Speak up for HS2, says minister

THE campaign for business to support the first phase of the High Speed 2 project from London to Birmingham has stepped as the government’s consultation process enters its final week.

Transport Minister Philip Hammond met business leaders from across the North in Manchester yesterday to press the case for the link, describing it as ” a vitally important project for the future of the North West”.

He said that some of the most vociferous and well-organised campaigning was coming from opponents of the scheme – particularly those whose land runs closest to the new stretch of track in the south of England, but argued that the debate needs to be taken to the whole country – and that businesses in the North need to play their part if they wish to see the second leg built that should reduce times between London and Manchester from just over 2 hours to 73 minutes.

“The broader communities who will benefit – the populations of cities in the Midlands, Scotland and the North – do not identify themselves quite so readily and so easily.

“Our job through the business community and the civic leaderships in the major cities its to get across to the man in the street how much this means for the future competitiveness of the UK’s economy.”

He said the first phase of the scheme from London to Birmingham would deliver £44bn of economic benefits and lead to the creation of £44bn worth of jobs. He also argued the project’s cost of £2bn a year was approximately the same that was currently being spent on London’s Crossrail scheme, so is affordable.

“We’ve looked at the alternatives including upgrading or widening existing track. But That would cost as much money as building a new railway and would cause years of delays.”

He added that it would not deliver anything like the capacity needed to handle projected passengeer numbers in the future.

Hammond said that High Speed 2 was the most important strategic transport investment in the UK since the building of the motorway network in the 1950s.

He said busineses in the North “need to make themselves heard over the siren sounds coming from the Chilterns and South Warwickshire” threatening to derail the project.

Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said Hammond “should be commended for the strength with which he is addressing High Speed Rail and I say that as someone from a different political party”.

However, he maintained Manchester City Council’s view that the government should pursue parliamentary approval for the whole project from London to Manchester and Leeds in one process.

He cited former Labour Transport Minister’s Lord Adonis’s assertion that this could reduce the current timetable by two years.

The High Speed  line between London and Manchester/Leeds is currently expected to take 17 years to complete.

“There are enormous legiislative barriers here, but I believe we can do things more quickly than we are doing.

“Once you’ve got to the position where he is at the moment it’s not really that much further to go to make this a little bit faster.”