THE president of the AA has called on the coalition Government needs to get a grip on transport policy and axe "ridiculous" high speed rail plans.
Edmund King, who is also a visiting professor at Newcastle University, questioned the benefits claimed for the proposed £33bn high-speed rail network, initially running from London to Birmingham before heading further north.
Mr King called for money to be spent upgrading the country’s creaking road network instead, including full dualling of the A1 through Northumberland. His comments to The Journal may alarm Transport Secretary Philip Hammond because the AA motoring organisation has 15m members.
The coalition has made high speed rail a flagship policy, particularly as it has ruled out new runways at airports in South East England.
With work due to begin in 2015, Mr Hammond has declared it will transform the economy and environment by cutting journey times and providing an alternative to domestic air travel.
The first phase of the network is due to run between London and Birmingham, with the second stage running to Leeds and Manchester.
But no concrete plans have been drawn up for it to continue to the North East.
Mr King, visiting professor of transport at Newcastle, said: “I do think generally at the moment that there is a problem in transport nationally and I don’t think the Government has really got to grips with it.”
He added he was a regular train user, spending £3,500 on an annual season ticket, but argued that there are particular issues around high speed rail.
“I use the trains all the time. Whenever I go up to Newcastle I use the trains, so it is not an anti-train thing.
“But the whole thing, the debate over high speed rail and the benefits, quite frankly are ridiculous,” said Mr King.
“Look at the money, look at what it is going to do, look at the capacity questions.”
Referring to a meeting with Mr Hammond, he said: “I looked him in the eye and I said: ‘Look okay, how many cars will it take off the A1 or M1 or the M40’?
“And he looked at his officials, and said: ‘Well, it’s not just a question of that’. Well, so what will it do for transport?
“And I think for regions like the North East who still haven’t got a decent link on the A1 to Scotland that’s dual carriageway, when you him talking about multi-billion high speed rail, it is ludicrous.”
Mr King warned that cuts to the roads programme did not bode well for the future, with congestion becoming a major problem again once the economy recovers. To support his case, Mr King referred to a AA/Populus survey on support for high speed rail, showing it at 26% in the North East, with 45% neither supporting or opposing the plans. Nationwide, just 35% support the scheme.
A Department for Transport source said: “While we understand motorists are always going to want more money for the roads, businesses in the North East are square behind our plans for high speed rail and see it as crucial to the country’s economic future.”
