ANTI-HS2 campaigners have hit back after a political group published a ‘sham’ report backing the controversial £33bn rail link.

The All Party Parliamentary Group for High Speed Rail has published a report, which says the plans must go ahead as the alternatives are inadequate.

In the report the group said the rail network is close to being full, railways continue to grow despite the recession and alternatives to HS2 will not meet demand and would do little to help local services or freight. The report also stated ‘the risks to under-providing capacity are severe and far more serious than the risks of overprovision’.

Stop HS2 campaign coordinator Joe Rukin said: “It is no real surprise that a group of out-of-touch MPs, who would see their journey time to London cut, think mistakenly that there will be benefits to their areas, and are heavily influenced by the businessmen who directly benefit from the construction of HS2 think that building it is a good idea. This report is a sham, it was a foregone conclusion, it is shamelessly selfish and ignores the facts – much like the Department for Transport, they had set out what they wanted to find before they even started.”