HS2 mastermind presses sceptical Coventry businesses
ONE of the architects of the controversial HS2 rail proposals has urged sceptical business owners in Coventry and Warwickshire to back the scheme.
Lord Adonis was the Transport Minister who launched the plan to build a high speed rail link from London to the Midlands and the North during the last Labour government.
Meeting business leaders from the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce and around 40 local companies, the peer said HS2 was cheaper than the alternatives and would achieve more in the long term.
A survey conducted by the Chamber before the visit said around 50 per cent of companies were still unsure of HS2’s economic benefits it would bring, but chief executive Louise Bennet said firms had a ‘stronger idea’ about the business case after the meeting.
She said: “We have met several key figures who have tried to put the case for HS2 but have struggled to get the message over to business.
“Lord Adonis gave a very clear and definite message that this was the right proposal for the economy and was the right way forward for the UK.
“Businesses still have concerns but at least the case from Lord Adonis means firms can start to formulate a more informed opinion on whether they are for or against.”
Lord Adonis said stopping HS2 and upgrafding the current network would cost more money but would offer only an increase in capacity by two-thirds of that which HS2 will provide.
He said connectivity would also be improved – not only to London but to the East Midlands, the north and Scotland.
He said: “The fundamental case for HS2 is not about speed, it’s about capacity. The case for speed begins to grow when you go further north and into Scotland. “But in terms of capacity, we are now at record numbers of rail users and capacity on the West Coast mainline will be exhausted south of Birmingham by the 2020s.
“HS2 gives us the chance to take this once-in-a-generation opportunity to treble capacity on the West Coast mainline. If we simply upgrade the conventional line, we will spend more in cash terms and only get two-thirds of the capacity.”
