Tuesday, January 29, 2013  HS2 and all that  My contribution so
far to the debate about the proposed HS2 line is on how to
pronounce Toton. (It's Toe-ton, not Totton) As a railway fan, my
instincts are always to be positive about railways. In recent
years, it's been good to see a whole set of lines closed in the
60s re-open to provide more efficient and environmentally-
friendly solutions to transport problems.  I can even see that
if HS2 is ever built there is some sense in serving Derby and
Nottingham with a station at Toton, rather than opt for one or
the other city and carve a very expensive line through the
middle of them. Toton is well-served by public transport, has
lots of rail land and is even close to the M1. However, all this
presupposes that building HS2 is a good idea in the first place.
Is it worth the £33+ bn costing, or are there alternatives that
are cheaper and/or more effective?  Evidence from other
countries suggest that creating more rapid access to the capital
from other cities is more li