10:50am Friday 19th March 2010
By Reader's letter
The possible routing of a new high-speed rail link has caused anxiety because it may not serve York directly. The simple fact is that if ever built it will most likely go to Leeds/Bradford and then possibly on to Newcastle and Edinburgh.
What is the problem for York? We have our own high-speed link into central London, and right next door to our terminus at King’s Cross is the Eurostar Terminal.
There is some scope for improvement. Journey time could be reduced to 100 minutes if a new length of line was built from Temple Hirst to Bawtry, bypassing Doncaster to the east with a possible station at the airport. In addition, the flat rail crossing at Newark should be eliminated, as that at Retford was many years ago.
These works would also provide benefits at Doncaster to relieve congestion, and similarly on the Nottingham to Lincoln route.
The interested parties should press our case for improvements to the East Coast Mainline, which could be done at a relatively modest cost and give economic and environmental advantage long before a new route to the north is built.
David Randon, Blue Slates Close, Wheldrake, York.
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