Dr Richard Wellings, head of transport at think tank the Institute of Economic Affairs, is "deeply disappointed" over the decision to go ahead with HS2. He said:

For the uninitiated, PJ Masks is a children's cartoon featuring Amaya, Connor and Greg who lead normal lives by day, but at night they transform into superheroes and use their powers to fight villains and solve mysteries. Not sure they've had a go at building a huge railway line yet...

There's a mixed reaction from readers on the news that HS2 is set to be green-lighted today.

Jackie Vincent is far from happy. "I think it is appalling that this monstrosity is being allowed to continue, regardless of the cost," she says, adding: "I think this 'white elephant' will only benefit the few and not be the magic wand to help the North."

Meanwhile Kieran Conaty is angry that the plans don't extend beyond Leeds. "So the North stops at Leeds, does it?" he asks. "I presume anyone residing north of Leeds won’t be required to pay any tax towards this £100bn investment?"

But Simon Lambert has a positive view and reckons HS2 will help benefit Britain's steel industry. "Hopefully the steel needed will come from UK plants. We cannot be a global player without a steel industry," he says.

He also addresses some of the environmental objections by pointing out that: "Any project will destroy woodland, road, rail or clothes lines."

Image source, Getty Images

Connecting Britain, a coalition of business and political leaders in northern England including Andy Burnham, pictured right, and Steve Rotheram - metro mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, say the north of England needs new rail lines that go north-south and west-east.

In a statement, they say: "London isn't being forced to choose, it's getting Crossrail and HS2. We shouldn't be forced to either.

"We need HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (high-speed rail links across the Pennines) delivered in full.

"The government needs to be clear we will not accept a gold-plated high-speed line between London and Birmingham, then once again the North getting the scraps."

Conservative backbencher Michael Fabricant has said he cannot support the building of HS2.

He said there was "no doubt" about capacity problems on the West Coast mainline, but he said in "years to come" people will ask if the design of the new link could have been better.

Image source, Getty Images

Some of the biggest objections to the HS2 project are on environmental grounds. They’re ill-founded, Nigel Harris, the editor of Rail Magazine, told the BBC News Channel.

“HS2 will take about 0.01% of our ancient woodlands. Over the entire 345-mile network that’s 58 hectares of land," he pointed out.

"If you look at the lower Thames motorway crossing that’s coming , that takes 54 hectares, almost as much, over just 14 miles of track.

"The designers of HS2 have worked very hard to save bits of ancient woodland here and there and they’ve come up with an optimum route.

"There are 11,000 acres of ancient woodlands in The Chilterns and HS2 takes one hectare.”

BBC News

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party is one person disappointed at the expected thumbs up for HS” the government will announce today.

“We are disappointed,” he told the BBC News Channel. “We’re huge fans of trains at the Green Party but we just think this is the wrong project.

“The cost has ballooned out of all proportion and now we know there will be widespread environmental destruction with over 100 ancient woodlands destroyed,” he warned.

“It is likely to lead to increased airport expansion at Manchester and Birmingham. This is not the way to move to the low-carbon economy.”

He said £100bn should instead be borrowed to upgrade the existing network.

BBC News Channel

"It is absolutely the right decision [to give HS2 the go-ahead]," Nigel Harris, the editor of Rail Magazine, told the BBC News Channel.

"It has been mired in politics and, of course, emotion, but if you strip them away we need that capacity.

"Our railways are full. You’d have to close our main lines every weekend for 25 years to do an upgrade on the existing network and you wouldn’t get the same capacity increase that HS2 gives us."

Responding to suggestions that the cash could be better spent elsewhere he said: “The idea that’s there’s a £100bn pot that could dipped into is a fanciful myth. The way these projects are funded is through borrowing,” he pointed out.

HS2 will encourage more companies to move out of London, reckons Richard Butler of the CBI.

“It’s not just Birmingham that will benefit,” he pointed out, “High Speed 2 will go to Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, albeit further down the line in terms of timing.

“A large number of companies have already come to Birmingham on the back of what HS2 will do. Assuming we have a positive decision today, more companies will make that move out of London and the South East for a whole variety of economic reasons.”

Responding to criticisms that the money being spent is too much or could be better spent elsewhere, the CBI’s Richard Butler said: “I note those points, but we have a Victorian rail system that is creaking at the seams.

"We need to do something about capacity and it’s almost impossible to upgrade the current network without closing it down indefinitely to achieve that.

"High Speed 2 is the only way of bringing in that extra capacity we need," he said.

BBC News Channel

Richard Butler regional director of the CBI in the West Midlands is looking forward to today's HS2 announcement, he told the BBC News Channel.

“It’s an important day,” he said. “It’s positive for a number of reasons.

“We need additional rail capacity in the UK, we need to regenerate the north and we need to speed up travel times to London.

“High Speed 2 has the capability of addressing all those three points.”

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, HS2

Lord O’Neill is a cross-bench peer, vice-chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, and former Conservative treasury minister.

He has become a lot more positive on HS2, and says the latest plans are a lot more "thoughtful" than earlier versions.

"I think the London to Birmingham bit is actually about speed," he told the Today programme.

"It allows business and humans to almost arbitrage the price differentials - you can see it already in terms of house prices – London’s are declining and Birmingham’s are not. A lot of businesses are starting to make noises about Birmingham."

The crucial thing now, he says, is faster connectivity between the northern cities.

The economist adds that he is torn when it comes to the cost of the project, but says that the productivity boost for the north of England will be so big that it will boost the growth potential of the whole country... so the costs will be justifiable.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, HS2

Michael Fabricant, Conservative MP for Lichfield in Staffordshire, says he supports HS2 on a "philosophical" level.

But he is critical of the final plans for the project, which mean it will not go into Birmingham New Street, the city's main interchange. He says there is also an awkward change to other services when trains arrive in London.

He also says the route will cause unnecessary damage to the countryside.

“People are still going to fly because of the change of trains in London, so my argument is the lack of connectivity and also that it is so damaging environmentally.

“Instead of using existing transport corridors, which it will do as it goes into the North in phase 2, between Birmingham and London it crashes through unspoiled countryside.”

"I certainly believe we need two extra lines because of capacity problems on the West Coast mainline but I think in years to come people will look back on this project and say 'they could have done it so much better'."

Image source, Reuters

The government is expected to give the final go-ahead to HS2, the high-speed railway connecting London to Birmingham and then Manchester and Leeds.

The infrastructure project, currently the largest in Europe, has been delayed and faced mounting concerns over the exact route and spiralling costs.

While the whole line will be built, the government is expected to review the sections of the route that cover the North.

So what is the proposed route and why has the project gone over budget?

Read more here.

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