HS2 high-speed rail link ‘white elephant’ MP claims

From: BBC News

A proposed £32bn national high-speed rail link was described as a “white elephant” during an MPs’ debate.

Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom made the claim adding that HS2 was “out of date before it is even completed”.

Liberal Democrat Dr Julian Huppert said the project was “a cold, hard necessity which we cannot afford to ignore”.

The line would first connect London to Birmingham, then to Manchester and Leeds and include stops in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

Ms Leadsom, whose South Northamptonshire constituency would be affected by the line, said she was against plans for a scheme that she thought was “unjustifiable and eye-wateringly expensive”.

“If this route was going from Truro to Paddington or from Leeds to Edinburgh, I would still be here today defending the taxpayer,” she added.

Coventry North-West MP Geoffrey Robinson (Labour) was also opposed to plans and said: “It’s the largest capital project this country will ever have engaged in and it is money, frankly, that could better be spent elsewhere.”

Successful economy

Transport Minister Theresa Villiers backed HS2 to defuse the “passenger capacity time bomb” on the West Coast Main Line and denied the scheme was only about cutting the London to Birmingham journey time to 49 minutes.

“It’s about delivering the inter-city transport links that are absolutely crucial for the future success of our economy.”

Labour’s shadow rail minister John Woodcock argued HS2 was “a vital lifeline of economic growth”.

“We will be failing future generations if we pass up the opportunity to employ the most advanced technology available,” said the Barrow MP.

A petition against the scheme has been delivered to Downing Street with 108,000 signatures.

Stop HS2 campaigners assembled at Old Palace Yard, opposite the House of Commons, to protest against the plans.

The line would also run through rural parts of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire.

Half a million rail workers enjoy free or discounted travel

Another slow news day at the Daily Telegraph

Half a million British railway workers and their families are travelling for free or with large discounts as commuters face fare rises of up to 13%, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

More than 160,000 current and former railway workers and contractors have rail passes which in many cases entitle them to unlimited free rail travel for life.

The benefit also extends to spouses and children, taking the total number of pass-holders into the hundreds of thousands.

The news is likely to anger commuters who are having to pay as much as £500 extra for season tickets following steep price hikes earlier this month, and prompted calls from passenger groups for an immediate government review of rail industry perks.

The Association of Train Operating Companies, which keeps records of rail passes issued by franchise holders, disclosed that 80,000 current workers hold passes that entitle them to travel for free or for just 25 per cent of the cost of the top-priced ticket on their journey.

Another 82,000 retired railway workers enjoy the perk, meaning that millions of free or discounted rail journeys are being made every year.

ATOC said 10,000 current and former staff, together with 20,000 dependants, are entitled to free rail travel for life, with the remaining 152,000 beneficiaries of the scheme, and their families, receiving discounted travel.

The taxable perk has an inevitable knock-on effect for ordinary travellers, who would pay less for their tickets if the rail industry did not allow so many of its staff to travel for free or at a heavy discount.

In May Phil Hammond, the Transport Secretary, announced a Government review of rail fares and promised “an end to the era of above-inflation fare increases to passengers”.

Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The Government’s forthcoming fairness review must look at these concessions in the light of the fare rises that we have seen this month.

“These concessions may be part of previous agreements, but the fairness review should make sure that the balance is right.”

ATOC said 50,000 of the 80,000 current staff who have rail passes had their perks “safeguarded” for life because they were employed by British Rail before privatisation in 1993.

Others employed since then, including contractors, receive either “status passes”, entitling them to free travel, or “box cards” which give them free travel 20 times per year.

Earlier this month the announcement of above-inflation ticket price rises provoked fierce opposition from rail travellers.

Protestors at London Waterloo station staged a demonstration against average price increase of eight per cent, with some tickets going up by as much as 13 per cent.

Theresa Villiers, the rail minister, has insisted the wallet-busting increases were essential as part of the Government’s deficit reduction plans, and would enable rail companies to invest in improved services.

A spokesman for ATOC defended the perks, arguing that they are protected by law.

“Travel for safeguarded staff is enshrined in the Railways Act 1993 and provisions now are significantly less generous than they used to be.”

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Dear Daily Telegraph

Does the phrase “Pot Calling The Kettle Black” mean anything to you?

Taken from your own careers web pages:-

Careers@Telegraph:

“All Telegraph employees receive a competitive salary and bonus scheme (where applicable). We also offer a generous benefits package which includes: Bupa Healthcare, Pension, 25 days Holiday (rising to 30 days after first three years of service), Life Assurance and Personal Health Insurance. In addition to the above core benefits we also offer the following non-contractual benefits to employees: In-house GP, Physiotherapists, In-house Masseuse, In-house Gym and onsite Studio Classes, Employee Assistance Programme, Dental Care Scheme, Bikes to Work Scheme, and Season Ticket Loans.”

Please remove these benefits from your employees and adjust your cover price accordingly as you are obviously overcharging your readers to fund these “perks”.

To the Great British public:

Next time you go shopping or out for a bite to eat at a chain restaurant, please feel free to complain about the over-inflated prices caused by their employee discount schemes, it is obvious that this is the reason for prices on the High Street being so high and all employees should be held to account.

It is nice to see that once again the Telegaff have used reasoned argument and balanced reporting to fill column centimetres in what should have been tomorrows chip wrappers.