Unnecessary high speed (From Oxford Mail)

Unnecessary high speed

10:00am Friday 6th July 2012 in Letters

I WAS on my allotment the other day when my thoughts were brought to a sudden halt by the sound of a distant train’s whistle, which caused me to say out loud “high speed rail, our saviour”.

It will mean 10 minutes’ more time for our business people arriving either in London or Birmingham in 20 years time for business meetings to create billions of direly-needed ‘dosh’.

High speed travel has a long history. After WWII, multi-engine piston-powered aircraft were well-established and trans-Atlantic flight revolutionised the speed at which business deals could be clinched throughout the world – in hours, not weeks as was common beforehand.

However, I don’t remember the benefit to us common people. Prices still went up.

Then, in the ‘50s, came the jets, Comets and Boeing 707s, flying at speeds of around 550mph, and able to get anywhere on earth in half the time of the old prop aircraft. Did we benefit? Not that we noticed.

Next, in 1976, came supersonic flight – the Anglo-French Concorde could get our business persons almost anywhere in the world in about three hours.

Alas, we poor people just kept getting poorer. In fact the whole country did.

So now it’s all down to the future business folk (who must be about 10 years old now) to pay for the HSDT (High Speed Death Train), putting us once more on the road to glory, repaying the billions of pounds that have been wasted for the benefit of foreign companies.

Providing of course we still have rail travel by then, not discounting the return of Mr Beecham’s ghost appearing in some form or other.

TONY O’GORMAN, Main Street, Hethe

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