Government faces renewed legal battle over HS2 Three groups are challenging HS2 through the courts, including a coalition of 10 local authorities which last night called the line "fundamentally flawed." The two-day hearing at the Supreme Court, starting on Tuesday, is the latest stage in a long-running legal challenge, also involving the HS2 Action Alliance, a campaign group that has accused the Government of ducking environmental responsibilities. A third organisation, Heathrow Hub, wants to see alternative routes considered. In a letter published last night , two of the councils in the local authority coalition said HS2 will have a "catastrophic" impact. The project in its current form is "nothing but bad news" for the majority of communities that live along the proposed route, they said. "The Government appears determined to push ahead with the project without considering if [HS2"s] objectives could be achieved in a different way with less cost to the country and reduced impacts on local communities," reads the letter, signed by Councillor Valerie Leach of Camden Council and Councillor Nick Rose of Chiltern District Council. A Department for Transport spokesman said: "HS2 is absolutely vital if we are to meet the urgent capacity needs we face. Attempts to obstruct HS2 have already been firmly rejected by two courts. The Government will continue to defend any challenge in the Supreme Court, but strongly believes Parliament is the right place to debate the merits of HS2, not the courts.