HS2 needs to stop in our county. That is the view of a leading business voice in Cumbria.

Yesterday the Prime Minister proclaimed that HS2 will be crucial for our country as he marked the project’s formal beginning of construction.

The Government-commissioned Oakervee Review into HS2 warned last year the final bill for the railway scheme could reach £106 billion at 2019 prices.

Despite it running tens of billions of pounds over budget and several years behind schedule, the PM gave HS2 the green light in February. The project was given a revised budget and schedule as part of his decision.

Work will begin on Phase One between London and the West Midlands with the biggest engineering challenges - such as the stations and tunnels - followed by the main viaducts and bridges.

Rob Johnston, chief executive of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce said: “I think it is quite exciting. We are quite pro-HS2 and pro having two stops in the county. If we don’t get them we will end up with an inferior system, a feeder, instead of being part of the main event.

“We need better capacity rail services that are faster for the future. Our hope is that we get two stops on HS2 and we have further integration and more capacity on other lines to ensure a better service for passengers. We want to see HS2 happening but we want it to stop in our county.”

Mr Johnston said the chamber would continue to lobby Government to ensure Cumbria is connected to HS2.

He said earlier discussions with ministers had been positive, with at least one Cumbrian stop being part of constructive conversations. Mr Johnston added that the stations in which the line will stop will depend on the business cases submitted for various stops, as well as how much of HS2 is actually developed.

“I’m very confident we’ll get one, we just need to keep the pressure on with our business case,” explained Mr Johnston.

He continued to say if the county was to get no stops it would be hugely damaging for business perception of Cumbria. “We need to be able to say you can get directly from London to the heart of our economy,” he said.

However, concerns have been raised about the impact of building the multi-billion pound HS2 project.

"My main concern is the damage it is going to do to the environment and wildlife and that it is going to destroy ancient artifacts," said Jill Perry of Allerdale & Copeland Green Party.

"It comes at a time when the Government is actually recognising the impact of trees in tackling climate change. It is a complete waste of money that could be better spent on local transport infrastructure projects to get more people using buses and trains when we recover from Covid, rather than using cars.

"People who will use HS2 are probably already using trains."

According to HS2, the line would cut journey times from Carlisle to London Euston by 41 minutes, down from three hours and 15 minutes to two hours and 34 minutes.

These timings would be subject to the completion of phase two of the project though and on the basis of the current assumed service pattern.

Mrs Perry would like to see the money invested elsewhere.

"I'd like to see investment to connect the line between Carlisle and London and Newcastle and London, increased stops to cross country routes and we should probably spend some money on crossing the Pennines, as this seems to slow things down a lot.

"Money should also be reallocated to Cumbria County Council who have been forced to cut money spent on bus routes, to try and get people out of cars."