Outspoken: Rail minister Simon Burns said opponents of NS2 would come to realise it was in the national interest Opponents of the controversial £42billion high speed rail line have been likened by a minister to anti-progress campaigners who did not want motorways built in the 1950s and 1960s. Transport minister Simon Burns risked escalating the row over the HS2 project, which the government claims will cut travel times from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. The intervention came as the Court of Appeal rejected the latest legal challenge to the plan from 15 councils and campaign groups. The project ran into trouble when the government admitted recently that the bill had soared by £10billion to £42.6billion.
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Rail minister Simon Burns says campaigners will eventually see benefits
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Court of Appeal rejected latest legal challenge to £42billion project
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Line will link London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds
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