Unpromising?

This does not look too promising for an important wildlife site, does it? It's the old rail track between Winslow and Bletchley and since it was 'mothballed' years ago, it has become one of the most important butterfly sites in Buckinghamshire - the sheltered south-facing bank of the cutting and adjoining wet woodland providing breeding habitat for a number of scarce species. This line is due to be re-openned as part of the East-West Rail project, linking (once again) Oxford with Cambridge and beyond. I'm one of a number of wildlife enthusiasts discussing with Railtrack and their ecologists various ideas for mitigation and biodiversity enhancement as the project progresses, but we've just heard that there might be a substantial delay to the scheme. This gives us quite a lot longer to monitor butterflies along the line and make plans, but why is this project, which is widely supported, delayed on financial grounds when HS2, which is universally loathed and has been discredited, is pushing ahead at a cost of £billions?