As you can imagine, when I was Secretary of State for Transport, and piloting the Bill through the House of Commons, I put a great deal of thought into the project, its benefits and its implications. I was very pleased to achieve support from across the House of Commons.
I still believe HS2 is a vital project for this country, which is desperately short of rail capacity. It will not only promote economic growth but also drive regional regeneration and support job creation. It is supported by all the major conurbations that it will serve, as they recognise the key benefits that it will bring to their areas. HS2 will provide the capacity we need by trebling the number of seats into Euston in the peak, and almost doubling the number of trains on the West Coast mainline corridor.