8:30am Thursday 18th March 2010
By Neil Skinner
A planned high-speed rail line linking London with Birmingham would see a huge viaduct cut through Green Belt countryside south of Maple Cross, preliminary government plans suggest.
The ambitious project, costing in the region of £17 billion, was announced by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis last week, with work to start in 2017 at the earliest.
The Government’s preferred route, published by the Department for Transport on Thursday, begins at London Euston and sweeps north west, over the A412, north of Denham and under the M25 – about half a mile south of Maple Cross JMI school.
Trains travelling at up to 250 miles per hour would cross a viaduct of more than two miles in length before burrowing through a large tunnel mouth where Chalfont Lane crosses the motorway.
If built, the 250 miles per hour HS2 project would see journey times between the two cities cut by as much as 20 minutes.
Three Rivers District Council leader Ann Shaw said yesterday that the project “will probably never happen".
It could, however, have a detrimental effect on some neighbouring properties.
David Cassidy, 74, of St Peter’ Close, Mill End, warned that residents in the Maple Cross and West Hyde areas could experience the worst of the project.
He said: “This may never happen in my lifetime but people need to know what could happen in future.
“I realise the need for something like this but it would create a lot of noise. Also, this tunnel that is proposed would have to be very large indeed.
“This may just be a provisional plan but if you look at when the M25 was built, that went by the exact same route as was originally proposed.”
Councillor Shaw said she was aware of the proposals but stressed there was no need for alarm.
She said: “I think people are sensible enough to know that this is something flung out by a government in its last weeks. We’re talking here about something that is a very long way off and will probably never happen. I just don’t believe that it is a serious proposal.”
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