A London the protest against the high-speed train High Speed 2 moves underground. In the neighborhood of Euston, activists of the collective HS2 Rebellion they dug underground tunnels to block work on the railway network that is supposed to join Birmingham to the English capital. For at least two weeks the demonstrators they sleep in the tunnels, while the police tried on more than one occasion to evacuate them. The same method of protest has also been practiced by HS2 Rebellion in another area of London, Highbury: here the reason for the dispute is the project for a apartment complex which would replace a wooded park. “The tunnels take longer, days and sometimes weeks, to be evacuated and usually builders cannot start work on the site if there are still people underground,” they explain to Ilfattoquotidiano.it HS2 Rebellion activists.
In Highbury the protest against the felling of trees died down when the last protester was sent out, while in Euston there are still people in the tunnels. The goal is to make known the economic and environmental damage which, according to the group, the construction of the HS2 railway would cause. “Since the protest started, most of the audience has supported the people in the tunnel and we have gained a lot of press attention. This has caused people to start talking about High Speed 2, with many questions being raised regarding whether if this project is not going to zero impact of carbon in 120 years, then it doesn’t have to go on. We’re trying to sound the alarm that we don’t need one railroad ‘ecocida’ high speed why it will never be carbon neutral, will destroy or damage 108 ancient woods and cost British taxpayers more than 170 billion pounds (194 billion euros). The project is already overdue ”.
The number of people underground in Euston has not yet been quantified, the age of those who sleep there varies from 60 to 18, as told by the protesters themselves. Local policemen tried, the newspaper reports Telegraph, to get the activists out pumping water down the tunnels : “Despite the public urging the government and the police to stop the eviction, HS2 has decided not to stop it and is continuing to cut down trees in the area while operating heavy machinery, putting all the lives of the people in the tunnels at risk,” explains the spokesman.
The Highbury tree protest is not connected to the HS2 railway, but the idea for the tunnel came from the same people who dug in Euston. “Each British citizen will pay £ 6,600 each for the high-speed project that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson he called it ‘profligate’ since the costs exceed 230 billion pounds ”, reads the website created specifically by HS2 Rebellion to challenge the initially planned public expenditure of 72 billion pounds (82 billion euros).
It is likely that the works will still be completed because the project has already been approved by the government: after the Birmingham-London section, another one will be created until Manchester and the first train should start in 2026. Faster, new moves jobs and a long-term reduction in carbon emissions compared to road transport are the promised benefits of promoting rail, but the recent protests have changed public opinion in part. “The traditional way to protest against the felling of trees is to climb the tree and stay there until a team arrives to cut them down. But the people in the tunnel in Euston have been there for two weeks and are willing to stay there for as long as necessary, ”the rebels announce.
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