IT HAS been said many times by proponents of HS2 that the existing network has not changed since Victorian Times and is therefore old fashioned and not fit for purpose.

The Victorian promoters and engineers realised that a rail system must connect communities for them to be viable and engender economic growth.

The existing network is based upon the same principles, so the Victorians have been proved right.

Connectivity is the key to a successful network. But HS2 ignores these basic principles.

Take the London, Birmingham to Manchester proposal. There will only be three or possibly four access points – London, Birmingham, Manchester and possibly Crewe.

Towns such as Wilmslow, Stockport and Macclesfield will lose a great deal of their connectivity as their existing services to and from London and Birmingham will be greatly reduced.

Indeed £7 billion will be taken from Network Rails Budget as a result of this reduction in their services.

I wonder how many existing rail users realise this.

So is there an alternative to HS2 which will avoid the need to destroy many acres of highly valuable and productive farmland, the upheaval to many communities with the compulsory purchase of many homes, the extremely inadequate compensation schemes for those adjacent to the proposed route and, to top it all, will vastly improve commuter services where the main capacity problem lies? Well yes, there is.

Network Rail has a proposal to install Digital Signalling across the existing network. It will increase the capacity of the existing network by some 40 per cent, without the need to build any new track across virgin countryside.

In my view, this is a far more viable proposal than HS2, because it solves the main problem of our existing network which is commuter capacity around our major conurbations such as Manchester.

Many proponents of HS2 use the need for greater capacity as a major plank in their support for HS2, others argue that HS2 will free up the existing network for more freight traffic.

Digital Signalling obviates the so-called need for HS2.

Ewen Simpson Whatcroft