Greening not green

The outgoing transport minister didn’t even reply to my overtures when the Coalition took office. Any hope that his replacement, Justine Greening, would present an open ear were scotched when she said on R4 that transport “offers great challenges and opportunities, such as Crossrail and high speed rail.” In shaving mere minutes off the journey between London and the North, HS2 will doubtless end up costing two or three times the estimated £32bn; and it will cost the earth, particularly the beautiful part of Earth called the Chilterns. Meanwhile, what about the potential in traffic system reform for transforming road safety, journey time, air quality and quality of life? Not a word.