HS2 Humbug: Euston, we have a problem!

Dec 2 2011

We, a small group of ‘ladies of a certain age’ left for Euston Station at 6.30 on Monday morning, hoping to deliver leaflets to vast numbers of like-minded commuters.

We were disappointed to find it a much harder job than we had expected!

We were met with all sorts of responses, from ‘I agree with High Speed Rail’ to ‘It won’t affect me’ to ‘You’ve taken my breath away; I had no idea…’

Many refused to take our leaflets at all, although the phrase ’disruption to Euston Station’ certainly had an impact! 

We warmed up over a cup of hot coffee and returned to our mission, only to find that passengers arriving after 9.00 a.m. were quite friendly and decidedly more receptive; perhaps we should have expected that!  We were replaced by other volunteers in the afternoon and returned home, feeling that it had not been an altogether wasted journey.

The Chancellor’s speech this week did little to give me much hope. His announcement that the government would be investing money in road-building does not preclude the high speed rail project, unfortunately, although I am still hopeful that Ms Greening will see the advantages of upgrading existing lines, both to achieve more immediate results and to avoid the massive cost involved in HS2. 

However, I was cheered to read the piece in this week’s Bucks Examiner on David Bekaert’s latest musical track, the HS2 Blues, which has been uploaded onto U-Tube; it is well worth a few minutes!

Enough rambling for this week! I hear from many that the decision has already been made and that we won’t like it but continue to lobby anyone who will listen and fight this madness!

‘Daughter of’ Humbug