HS2 will connect 8 out of 10 major cities, what are they?

The request was successful.

Dear Department for Transport,

A statement frequently made by the Secretary of State, and included in many documents, states that HS2 will connect 8 out of 10 major cities.

What are the 10 cities?

What are the two that are not connected by HS2?

Please explain how each of the 8 cities is connected to the other 7 by HS2 and give the predicted journey times in each case on completion of Phase 2. It would be helpful if this was presented as an 8 by 8 Origin-Destination grid with an empty diagonal.

How many of the 10 cities are currently connected to each other by train? It would be helpful to present this as an O-D grid.

Yours faithfully,

J Marriott

Department for Transport

Dear J Marriott,

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information which
has been allocated reference number P0017137.

A response will be issued to you in due course.

Regards,

Ivan Pocock
Department for Transport
FOI Advice Team
Digital Service
Zone D/04
Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North
St Leonards on Sea
East Sussex
TN37 7GA

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Dear Department for Transport,

This very simple request is now overdue. Please respond by return.

Yours faithfully,

J Marriott

Dear Department for Transport,

Can you please reply immediately as another 8 days have passed without any proper reply. The request was originally submitted on 18th February 2019. You are required by law to respond promptly.

Yours faithfully,

J Marriott

FOI-ADVICE-TEAM-DFT, Department for Transport

Dear J Marriott,

I have forwarded your emails to our case handler and asked them to contact you.

Regards,

Ivan Pocock
FOI Advice Team, Digital Service, Group Assurance and Digital Directorate

Department for Transport
D/04, Ashdown House
Sedlescombe Road North,
St Leonards on Sea, TN37 7GA

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Christopher Curson, Department for Transport

2 Attachments

Dear J Marriott

 

Please find attached a letter notifying you of an extension to the
deadline in respect of your information request.

 

Please accept my sincere apologies that this was not sent to you sooner.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Christopher Curson

 

 

[1][IMG]          Christopher Curson 
Correspondence and Briefing, High Speed and Major Rail
Projects Group 

3/11-15, Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P 4DR  

      
[2]Follow us on twitter @transportgovuk 

 

 

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Dear Christopher Curson,

Your response is absurd. Please explain which question(s) raise issues so "complex" that you need to withhold an answer while you consider a public interest test? By law, this should have been considered promptly in the time allowed. The public interest is very much in favour of answering questions like these and all statements made by Ministers, particularly when repeated frequently, must be open to scrutiny.

As you are undoubtedly aware there is increasing public and political interest in HS2. The seemingly continual refusal to withhold information serves to highten suspicion that there is much to hide.

Yours sincerely,

J Marriott

Christopher Curson, Department for Transport

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Marriott

 

Please find attached our response to your enquiry under the freedom of
information Act.

 

I am sorry that it was sent to the incorrect email address yesterday
evening. Please accept my apologies.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Christopher Curson

 

Christopher Curson  |Correspondence and Briefing, High Speed and Major
Rail ProjectsGroup, Department for Transport
3/11-15 | 
 

 

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Joe Rukin left an annotation ()

They liked this reply so much, they decided to send it to me too, For a completely different and unrelated question of course!

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/h...

J Marriott left an annotation ()

HS2 does not go to either Bradford or Bristol
London is connected to 7 cities (7 pairs)
Birmingham is connected to 5 cities (in addition to London)
None of the other 6 major cities are connected to each other by HS2
That means only 12 out of 28 possible pairs are connected
I suggest the claim is a lie, or at best totally misleading

The definition of what is regarded a city is not clearcut