UK needs to make the best possible progress in the shortest possible time at the most reasonable cost
The Green Party today gave a mixed response to Gordon Brown's announcement of £20 billion investment in high-speed rail.
Caroline Lucas MEP, the party's leader, welcomed the announcement of expenditure to improve Britain's rail network but questioned the government's priorities. She said:
"The top priority for Britain's rail network should be getting our existing system working and improving it so that far more people will find rail travel more convenient and affordable.
"Part of the Green Party's 2009 election manifesto was an immediate investment package in both rail and bus services, totalling £10bn. For that money you could cut rail fares by one-third for the year, build 30,000 new buses and put an extra £2bn into improving railway stations and other infrastructure. We calculated that this could create 90,000 new jobs in the UK.
"The important thing is to benefit as many members of the travelling public as possible as quickly as possible, while cutting CO2 emissions from transport as quickly and cheaply as possible. The Green Party's proposals would have achieved this far better than high-speed rail could."
The Greens pointed out that under Labour, and previously under the Conservatives, the UK has suffered the highest rail fares in Europe, while the Lib Dems are promising a freeze on UK rail fares - at the highest level in Europe.
Caroline Lucas has been tipped by both pollsters and bookmakers to win the Brighton Pavilion seat in the general election.