The Telegraph reports that David Cameron is standing firm on the high speed rail link (HS2) that connects London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. This is a subject on which I have written, most recently here. I make no apologies for returning to this subject as it seems the more one 'digs' the more an EU 'connection' exists, although not yet being able to be proven 'in print'.
The transport infrastructure page of the TEN-T website is quite informative, where it states:
"Most of these transport infrastructures have been developed under national policy premises. In order establish a single, multimodal network that integrates land, sea and air transport networks throughout the Community, the European policymakers decided to establish the Trans-European transport network, allowing goods and people to circulate quickly and easily between Member States and assuring international connexions."
One new document discovered is "High Speed Europe", which can be read here. The development of high speed lines (HSLs) is an avowed aim of the TEN-T programme and looking at page 11 of this document one can see a map with the rail lines from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds notated. The other avowed aim of the TE-NT programme is the inter-operability of of stock, signalling etc - and already there are plans for Deutsche Bahn to run trains from Frankfurt to London via the Channel Tunnel. In which case, if Deutsche Bahn is going to operate Frankfurt to London, why should it not operate Frankfurt to Birmingham or Manchester - hence the need for HS2.
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