Adonis unveils high speed rail plans

THE Government has unveiled details of the proposed route of the new high speed rail line, featuring 250mph trains, that will connect London to Manchester in 75 minutes.

But cross-party support for the scheme has collapsed, with the Conservatives saying the Government’s proposed £2bn-a-year construction costs of the project are too high and that Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has picked the wrong route.

The Tories say the route should include a direct link to Heathrow Airport, and eventually reach Leeds and Manchester directly, rather than splitting in a Y-shape from Birmingham. They claim their alternative plans cost just £1.3bn per year, and would be completed earlier.

The first section of the new track, linking Birmingham to the capital is not expected to be opened until 2025, with extensions to Leeds and Manchester coming some time after that.

As well as political opposition from the Conservatives to the details of the route, there will be environmental objections to the prospect of the 400-metre long trains cutting a new route through the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire. In addition, Treasury officials have admitted that the project will have to compete for funds with other major Government programmes including a new NHS database and the prisons rebuilding project, Trident.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis told the House of Lords the proposed route will between London and Birmingham with future extensions to the North and Scotland.

Theresa Villiers, the Shadow Transport Secretary, in a pamphlet titles ‘Labour’s High Speed failure’ will claim the government’s plans are wrong for the economy and the environment. The Conservatives want the network to connect directly to Heathrow and want a reverse S-shaped line from London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. The Tories’ vision would see work starting in 2015, with the whole line opening in 2027.

Work unlikely to start until 2017 at the earliest and funding for the project remains a sticking point.

Steven Broomhead chief executive of the North West Development Agency welcomed the ‘visionary proposals.’

He said: “We know that by 2020 capacity in the region’s existing rail links to London and the South will be exhausted, whilst our motorway link via the M6 is heavily congested, so a new rail link is certainly needed.

“It makes sense to build the new link to modern high speed standards, reducing journey times to the capital and releasing capacity on the existing rail network for vital freight and local services.

“We know that places within a one hour travel time to London benefit significantly from its wealth and economic power and we can expect that Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and our other major centres in the North West will benefit significantly in the future from the economic stimulus and environmental benefits which high speed rail services would bring.”

Network Rail said high-speed rail could  ‘drive economic growth and boost jobs’.

Chief executive, Iain Coucher said: “There is now a broad political consensus that Britain must have a high-speed rail future.

“High-speed is a vital part of a modern, dynamic economy. By slashing journey times, high-speed rail can drive economic growth and boost jobs.”