Re-open the Great Central Line, not HS2

The Great Central Line provided links to London for cities that are not currently served by direct services.

Map linK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Central_Main_Line_map.png

Reasons:

It provides alternative routes, increasing capacity for direct services to northern cities.

The route is pre-existing, presumably causing less destruction of homes and businesses.

It was actually designed specifically for high speed trains.

Money saved could be used to build the Severn Barrage, so that you will actually have some electricity to run trains!