The published £50bn costings for HS2 require more scrutiny. A new power station, possibly the size of Hinckley Point and costing around £16bn, may well have to be built to help power the line; while other outlays, such as flood risk assessments, maintenance and compensation for blight on nearby houses, will see the budget rocket. There are also a myriad minor construction and ongoing maintenance costs not included, such as security, mitigating landscaping, tree planting and conservation.

The £50bn was calculated at 2011 prices and, simply due inflation, the costs will continue to rise substantially. Inevitable cost overruns that always accompany projects of this nature will considerably escalate the quoted figure further. Recent research shows that 11 of the very biggest infrastructure projects in the UK in the past 15 years, have – on average – gone 158 per cent over the original budget. There is no reason to believe HS2 would be any different . . . In short, the taxpayer would be on the hook for decades, without limit as to cost.

As far as I am aware, UKIP is the only political party opposed to this ludicrous and unnecessary vanity project. — Delphine Gray-Fisk, Farnham Common