A new petition calling to “cancel HS2” has gone viral, gaining more than 10,000 signatures in under a week.

Anti-HS2 campaign group StopHS2 started the petition on Thursday last week, calling the controversial high-speed rail scheme a “vanity project” and asking for it to be axed.

Campaign manager Joe Rukin, who started the petition, wrote: “HS2 is a vanity project, lobbied for by the firms who will make billions out of building it, at a time of continued austerity and cuts to essential services.

“Independent economists, rail experts and environmentalists have all heavily criticised the project, but Governments have refused to listen.

“HS2 is not a ‘magic wand’ to cure the North-South divide. All the international evidence shows it will reinforce the dominance of London and increase regional divisions.”

StopHS2 chairman Penny Gaines told the Bucks Free Press she thinks the government should focus more on an East-West link in the north rather than a North-South.

She said: “It has been clear for a very long time that it is a very unpopular policy. We got 10,000 signatures in just under a week which is fantastic but what we want to do now is get it up to 100,000 signatures, which is when it will be considered for debate by the government.

“If they really want to build something new, they need to build an East-West link in the north. HS2 will do nothing for that.

“There are already some very good railway networks that get to London from the north. The real difficulty has always been the East-West link.”

The route, linking London and Birmingham, and running through parts of south Bucks, has been vehemently opposed by local authorities in Bucks, the National Trust and anti-HS2 campaigners who slammed the government’s refusal to tunnel it underneath the Chiltern Hills.

Department for Transport spokesman Tom Ambrose said: “HS2 will become the backbone of our national rail network – supporting growth and regeneration and helping us build an economy that works for all.

“As HS2 will transform our rail network for the 21st century, it will create more seats for passengers and free up space on the existing network – enabling more commuter services on some of our busiest suburban railway lines, leading to better journeys for passengers.”

To see the petition, go to https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200793.