And other things. Comments like these give the sceptics like
@PR1Berske ammunition to scrap it altogether.
Commuter from Bletchley supports the phase that will give them the most benefit, but does not support anything additional!
It is already well established that HS2 funds are reserved for HS2, and that if it isn't spent on that, it isn't going to be spent on other railway projects.
Here are some "emotional" arguments for HS2 Phase 2:
The Manchester to Stockport problem:
Presently, long distance services from London run at 20 minute frequencies, going against the generally half hourly services that are more appropriate for demand across south Manchester commuter destinations. It leaves an inefficient timetable and a poor service at some locations. Congleton cannot get a reasonable service because the paths are required by the InterCity services. I'm sure
@agbrs_Jack can give more of an insight into Congleton's chronic lack of services. One cannot solve this without removing other services first. We've already had to turn back the second Mid-Cheshire Line train per hour at Altrincham because of a lack of paths from Stockport to Piccadilly.
Manchester Piccadilly has a platform problem. The southern throat is seriously congested, and the stacking of 2 or 3 trains in a single platform at multiple points throughout the day is a symptom of the lack of available platforms. Remove the constant blocking of 6 and 7 and there's a bit of breathing room.
The bottleneck that is Crewe. Removing the services that pass through non-stop is a good thing.
The Leeds/York arm and the ECML:
More fast paths are required, especially on the Southern section of the ECML. The fast Edinburgh services, fast Leeds services etc. can be replaced to give better services to currently underserved destinations, or to new destinations
......
I'm so sorry. My emotions appear to have got the better of me in this comment .