Liverpool City Region: HS2 link vital, leaders say
THE chairman of the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership says the organsiation is “lobbying hard” to ensure the northern arm of the government’s planned £33bn High Speed 2 rail link comes into the city centre.
Travelling at speeds of up to 250mph it will reduce journey times from Manchester to London by an hour, to one hour eight 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.
Robert Hough, chairman of the LEP has stressed that the planned route would leave Liverpool at a huge disadvantage compared to Manchester, particularly when it comes to attracting inward investors.
Mr Hough said: “We will be half an hour slower to London than Manchester and are lobbying hard on that. It really does matter – Manchester will gain traction over the next 20 years with the dominant position it enjoys with Manchester Airport and the station.”
His comments are included in a new 28-page supplement published by the TheBusinessDesk.com, which focusses on driving growth across the city region. Click here to download a free PDF of the supplement.
Others suggest that, rather than worrying about links down south, the city region should focus efforts on building connectivity with Manchester, its nearest neighbour, to exploit and leverage its assets.
The 2015 electrification of rail track between the two cities will go some way to helping as it will cut journey times.
Andrew Mulliner, regional director for Santander, is on the advisory council for the LEP. He said HS2 becomes much less of an issue if the two cities were more joined up.
Mr Hough also said that Manchester should be regarded as the hub airport for the north, including Liverpool, and that the focus should be on transport connections and links to and from the airport.
Rob Aitken, Liverpool portfolio partner for Baker Tilly, agreed: “Manchester and Liverpool need to be joined at the hip as one big business hub right the way down the M62. That’s what’s missing – there should be a high speed tram every 15 minutes between the two cities.”
