Staffordshire BC have joined the growing list of voices against the High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) project and Wakefield has raised concerns, it has been claimed.
According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, Staffordshire BC has joined the 51M group of local authorities, predominately Tory shire councils in the south-east of England, who are challenging the economic case for the scheme.
Speaking in his position as Wakefield Council leader rather than as chair of the Local Government Association's transport board, Cllr Peter Box also said he did not believe the economic case for HS2 had been made.
He said: 'There is no evidence that this project wil improve existing train provision and at this time we have to ask the question - does this investment give residents the best deal?'
'The cost per mile of HS2 has been identified as between £130m and £160m per mile, with 11.4 miles going through our district.
'At a minimum, this would be a massive £1.48bn that could, if invested in Wakefield, make a real difference to the district, for example bringing our highways up to scratch and building new infrastructure.'
The news follows a National Audit Office study a fortnight ago which claimed there was a multi-billion pound 'gap' in the £33bn budget for HS2, and raised a number of financial concerns about the scheme. Value-for-Money estimates have also been questioned by the Major Projects Authority.
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