With 2.64 million unemployed – the highest level since 1994 – the government must press ahead with investment in infrastructure such as high-speed rail. As representatives of workers across the rail industries, we welcome the thousands of construction and engineering jobs HS2 will immediately bring to the UK economy, as well as the jobs it will create long-term within the rail industry (Report, 27 December). But we also welcome the jobs that will be created as regional economies reap the benefits of HS2. As a recent report commissioned by Britain's Core Cities found, the creation of one million long-term British jobs outside the south-east rely on the building of HS2.
With decades of experience from around the world, HSR has been proven as an effective low-carbon mode of transport, creating a stronger economy, a boom for employment and a higher quality of life. Simply put, the UK cannot afford not to invest in HSR. For the thousands of jobs depending on its investment, we call on the government to ignore the wealthy ideological opponents of HS2 and to push ahead with its construction as soon as possible.
Manuel Cortes General secretary, TSSA, Bob Crow General secretary, RMT, Frances O'Grady Deputy general secretary, TUC, Len McCluskey General secretary, Unite, Mick Whelan General secretary, Aslef
