‘Transformational’ HS2 plans unveiled

THE Government has unveiled plans for its Northern arm of its £33bn High Speed 2 rail link.

Travelling at speeds of up to 250mph it will reduce journey times from Manchester to London by an hour, to one hour eight minutes and Manchester to Birmingham to 41 minutes.

A new station near Manchester Piccadilly and a second site near at Manchester Airport is proposed, while Crewe will be the location of a rail hub linking Liverpool and other locations with the route.

Under the government’s preferred route, HS2 will leave the main line just north of the M6 at Hoo Green, near Mere, continue to the north of Rostherne Mere running in cuttings to the south of the M56.

It would then pass over the Altrincham to Chester railway at Ashley before heading north east to cross under the M56 at Warburton Green, Hale Barns.
 
The route would then be in cuttings to the west of the M56 running into the interchange station close to the airport and motorway. Close to junction 5 of the M56 it would head into a seven-and-a-half-mile tunnel, surfacing north of Longsight for the approach, on existing track, to a new station next to Piccadilly.

Setting out its plans, the Department for Transport said it expects Manchester Airport to pay for the airport station, which would be built alongside the alongside the M56 motorway, between junctions 5 and 6 Warburton Green and Davenport Green near Hale Barns.

The proposals say: “The Government expects that there will be a strong commercial case for the airport to fund significant elements of the HS2 infrastructure, and the Government’s support for the airport station is conditional on that.”

In central Manchester the HS2 platforms would be “parallel to and immediately alongside the existing platforms” at Manchester Piccadilly, which should be redeveloped further.

The blueprint says the HS2 could have major economic benefits for the city: “Opportunities for wider development and regeneration in and around the site would be examined in future master-planning work – with initial estimates suggesting that development on and around the immediate station site could support over 3,000 housing units and almost 30,000 jobs.

“This work would need to be led by the city, and much would depend on their aims, but HS2 could unlock significant potential for creating a new district around the station and a new gateway into the city.”

As well as the new stations there would be a connection onto the existing West Coast Main Line to the south of Wigan, near Golborne, to enable HS2 trains to continue north wards to serve Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The project is predicted to created 100,000 jobs and will be integrated with the existing national railway network, meaning cities and towns beyond the high speed track up to Scotland – including Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, Preston, Warrington, Lancaster, Carlisle, Durham and Darlington – will also benefit from new connections and substantial time savings due to new trains able to use both high speed and conventional railway lines.

The Core Cities Group of England’s eight largest cities and other organisations believe the potential for jobs across the wider Midlands and the north is well above the predicted figure of 100,000.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Linking communities and businesses across the country and shrinking the distances between our greatest cities, high speed rail is an engine for growth that will help to drive regional regeneration and invigorate our regional economies. It is vital that we get on board the high-speed revolution.”

“We are in a global race and this government’s decision to make high speed rail a reality is another example of the action we taking to equip Britain to compete and thrive in that race. High speed rail is a catalyst that will help to secure economic prosperity across Britain, rebalance our economy and support tens of thousands of jobs.”

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin added: “The Olympics showed us that Britain has the confidence to seize opportunities today in order to secure our success tomorrow and HS2 is no different. It is about an investment in infrastructure that will deliver a priceless dividend: 351 miles of new railways helping people to jobs and goods to market.”