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Business travellers support plans for high-speed rail network
The majority of rail travellers support the planned high speed rail network, HS2.
A survey by the Guild of Travel Management Companies found 56% support it and only 25% are opposed.
Just under three quarters said it is important or very important that HS2 links Heathrow, while 62% of the respondents said any high-speed rail service from the North of England should connect to mainland Europe.
The GTMC analysed data from a survey of more than 1,000 respondents who travelled by rail a minimum of six times a year for UK business trips of 50 plus miles.
On the subject of rail franchises, 45% said 10-year franchises encourage complacency, 72% agree that some railway franchises should be publicly owned and 61% support the retention of the public ownership of the East Coast mainline.
GTMC chief executive Paul Wait said: "The GTMC will be using this and other supporting data to lobby government for ‘Open Access’ to be more widely adopted across the network, as franchises expire during the next Parliament.
"Essentially we will be arguing to bring true competition to the network in order to get a better deal for business travellers on price, capacity and innovation."
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Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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