“I am disappointed that the HS2 Parliamentary Committee has come out in favour of pylons as opposed to buried cables to provide power for the HS2 railway line at Blithfield” says Michael Fabricant.

The Committee published its report on 7^th June.  In making their decision, the Committee argued:  “We accept that the proposal in AP2 for the siting of overground pylons between Parkgate and the Newland Auto Transformer Feeder station contained in AP2 is the best option for provision of electricity to the railway. The cost differential is £65 million. Although the area is rural in nature, it is an undulating landscape and so the pylons would appear at differing heights and thus not make a huge impact on the landscape.”

Michael adds “Given the cost of the railway is likely to be in the region of £100 billion, £65 million is neither here nor there.  But with the cost and time over-run of Crossrail, I hope that a new Conservative Prime Minister may be chosen who shares my doubts about the whole viability of the HS2 programmme and will stop it in its tracks.”

The HS2 Committee report on the Blithfield power lines can be found here.