Despite strong competition, this weeks award goes to Camden resident Peter Jones (who Tweets as Hs2DeadDuck) for this superb bit of financial illiteracy & economic nimbyism.
Quite how overcrowding & a lack of rail capacity can be solved by less public subsidy is a mystery. As for the idea that, rather then providing the means for increasing numbers of people to travel to & from work we should simply price them off the railways – it’s the sort of bonkers nonsense that the Taxpayers Alliance would be proud of! Come to think of it, the anti Hs2 campaign does increasingly resemble the TPA in that it’s anti public transport – having switched from just opposing Hs2 to being against Hs3 & any other modern rail investment.
Jones neatly ignores the fact that the reason most people travel at peak times is that they have to in order to get to work on time! They have no option. If they can’t get on a train then either they have to find another way to get to work, or find another job. Clearly, retired Camden Nimbys like Jones consider themselves first & foremost & damn the rest of the UK, its economy and its environment. It’s the classic ‘I’m alright Jack’ attitude.
Now, assuming the vast majority of folks wouldn’t be looking for lower paid jobs elsewhere, how will they get to work? By coach or car, obviously. Both of which are far more dangerous than rail travel – and far more polluting. There’s also the small matter of where they park in London.
So, in one fell swoop, Jones is proposing to get a few more people killed in the inevitable road accidents that would follow, further damage the environment with the pollution these vehicles will cause, cause gridlock on London’s roads – and see us have to build vast multi-storey car parks to accommodate the vehicles. No doubt many of them will have to be built in Camden as it’s outside the congestion charge zone!
There’s also the small matter of freight too. Without the paths for freight that Hs2 frees up on the WCML we’ll be seeing more HGVs on our motorways – and London’s roads. Of course, the problem won’t just be confined to London. Hs2 frees up commuter capacity at other major city stations like Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield & Manchester.
It’s absolutely bonkers but it very neatly illustrates the illogical mindset & ‘I’m alright Jack’ attitude that permeates the anti Hs2 campaign. These people try and hide their Nimbyism with a green figleaf, pretending they’re ‘environmentalists’ when it’s clear from what they claim they’re anything but. There’s only one thing they care about. Themselves.
UPDATE:
Jones is also a very good example of the abusive (& downright defamatory) nature & tactics of many of the anti Hs2 campaigners – as this tweet from last night shows.
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