Sir Howard: HS2 essential to Manchester’s future

MANCHESTER City Council’s chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein set out an impassioned case for high speed rail at a lunch held by professional services body pro.manchester yesterday.

He told the audience the debate around HS2, “encapsulates the essence of what this city is about and what this city should become”.

Under current proposals the £40bn-£50bn line will link Birmingham and London by 2026 and extend to Manchester and Leeds six years later.

Both the Institute of Directors and the Public Accounts Committee have questioned the plan, but a report by KPMG – commissioned by HS2 Ltd – has suggested the scheme is worth £15bn a year to the UK economy.

Sir Howard said: “It’s not just about faster trains. Fundamentally this is a debate about how we create the capacity which will enable future demand for rail travel within the regions to be met.

“If we do not build a new railway, the system will come to a grinding halt at some point over the next 10 years. The other side of the debate – some of them based in London, not all – don’t think it’s that important. What we need is more investment in the transport system.

“The level of spending per head in London and the south east is between 15 and 20 times higher. London’s future is fundamental to the long-term future of the UK. But equally Manchester is starting to raise similar resourcing requirements. The more successful we become the more we need our share of national resources to insure we have the infrastructure to support business and industry, and to ensure our strategies are delivered.

“HS2 is very much part of that debate. If we don’t have it our transport system will start to clog up, we will see more rail freight using the roads and there will be more congestion. We will not be able to expand the range of commuter services to serve this centre which will be immensely important.”

He added: “We’re not sitting here waiting until 2032 for fast trains to arrive, we’ve already launched our strategic framework for Piccadilly. It shows what we’re proposing by re-planning the function around the Piccadilly area not only to improve connectivity but to drive us to a different growth path going forward.”

The council wants the HS2 investment to trigger a massive regeneration around the station that will see the creation of 14.4m sq ft of new floorspace, including 6.7m sq ft of commercial, 4.3m sq ft of residential and 1m sq ft of retail and leisure facilities across 140 acres.

Sir Howard is a member of the pro-HS2 taskforce set up by the government to garner support for the scheme.