I’m pleased to note the Ashington Blyth & Tyne Re-opening came 4th place in The TaxPayers Alliance “Great British Transport Competition” – a national competition to determine what other transport projects money could be spent on if HS2 is cancelled. I have absolutely no recollection of nominating the scheme, and fear that the costs quoted in the Report (£50m) are a little out of date. The Report is an interesting read for the North East as dualling the A1 between Durham and Edinburgh came 1st (surely Durham to Morpeth is already dualled?). I was invited to the Presentation of the Report on 14th May but despite the invitation giving the street name and name of building, there was absolutely no reference to which city it was taking place, nor postcode to give a clue. It seemed the assumption was that everyone would realise it was in London – itself an interesting reflection on the pro-London bias since the first 10 entries are most definitely in the north. Just to clarify, SENRUG is neutral on the HS2 issue and is not convinced that, even if it were cancelled, the money would be diverted to other transport projects. But we simply insist that money should be invested in the north, specifically our schemes such as the Ashington Re-opening and Berwick service, regardless of what happens in the south.
