IT is not very often I agree with Steven Broomhead but I read his latest column nodding my head and smiling in total agreement.

Why we are still persisting with HS2 is beyond me.

At the moment I can travel in comfort between Warrington in London in less than two hours – and when I book in advance, often for less than £40.

If this new line is agreed, I will have to change at Crewe, with all the disruption that causes, simply to get there a little faster.

As Mr Broomhead says, spend some of that money (and it would be a fraction) on doing up stations such as Warrington, Wigan, Preston and Crewe, and spend the rest on the NHS.

Better still, improve the lines to Manchester and Liverpool so it doesn’t cost me a tenner to get 15 miles up the road.

We can have a great rail service in this country, we just need to have the right ideas to make it happen.

CHRIS CLARKE Great Sankey