Environmental protection from HS2 being stripped out in the North

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The proponents of HS2 have been assiduous in protecting the environment in the South of England - 29 per cent of the 140 mile-line from London to Birmingham will run through tunnels.

How is this being paid for? By stripping out environmental further north.

An article by Frances Perraudin, North of England reporter for the Guardian, quotes Jonathan Pile from Yorkshire against HS2:

"We’re getting this double standard, where they’re spending all the money down south, no problem, but when it’s the north they just expect us to lump it." ... 

He said the government was going back on its initial commitment to “minimise the local environmental impact of the new railway wherever possible by using tunnels, deep cuttings and existing transport corridors”.

It also quotes Jon Trickett, Labour MP for Hemsworth, as saying the figures would confirm a feeling in Yorkshire that there was "one rule for the Tory marginals in the south and a completely different rule for the north":

He said the train line would be wider than two motorways and, in some cases, would be placed on a platform 12 meters in the air. 

He said the fact that HS2 would not pay for parts of the route in Yorkshire to be in tunnels reinforced "the idea that the north is a place where they can save money, make cuts and leave communities damaged to the benefit of the south".

Back to Jonathan Pile:

"I think they have a view that we might be willing to put up with more and that the home counties are going to scream blue murder and, to some extend, there is something to that.

"We are post-industrial communities which have been used to industrial landscapes that the home counties wouldn’t be happy with. But this area has been restored to green belt now. It’s got a burgeoning leisure industry and it’s definitely as beautiful as the Chilterns."