Engineering news
The government remains entirely committed to the controversial HS2 high-speed London to Birmingham rail line, transport minister Theresa Villiers said today.
Tory MPs are among those firmly against the £32 billion line which, if approved, will run through beauty spots in Tory heartlands.
Villiers said today that the government was convinced that HS2 was the best way forward, that its environmental impact would be only a "fraction" of what some fear and that "every single response" to consultation on the line was being carefully considered.
Transport secretary Philip Hammond is due to make a final government decision on HS2 in December.
The scheme, with the phase from London to Birmingham scheduled to be completed by 2026, is at the heart of the coalition government's transport policy, with ministers having ruled out expansion at south-east England airports.
Speaking at Gatwick airport today, Villiers said: "We continue to be very confident that HS2 is the right way forward in dealing with transport capacity restraints.
"We have looked at the numbers very carefully and this is the best way of dealing with the capacity crisis on inter-city routes."
She went on: "Almost every country in Europe has high-speed rail lines and it is an attractive alternative to domestic flights.
"Every single consultation response (to HS2) is being very carefully considered. Major changes to Labour's original route have already been made. I firmly believe that the ultimate impact (on the environment) of the line is going to be only a fraction of what is feared."
Airlines and some big businesses would rather see airport expansion than the HS2 scheme. Last week Willie Walsh, the boss of British Airways' parent company IAG, said it was "scandalous" that the government did not plan to publish its aviation policy until 2013.
Villiers refuted this view today, saying the government was doing much to aid aviation, including measures to make airports put passengers first and plans to get more out of Heathrow's two existing runways.
She said that the so-called "Heathwick" plan - a high-speed rail link between Heathrow and Gatwick - was one of a number of options being considered by the government.