Re-direct HS2 money into boosting rail freight, says Briggs Equipment executive
A DIRECTOR of a Cannock-based materials handling and logistics company has urged the Government not to spend millions on the HS2 high-speed rail project but to invest the money into infrastructure that would increase the amount of freight transported by rail instead.
On the day the transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the Conservative Party conference that HS2 will provide Britain’s transport system with a heart bypass, Bill Goodwin, sales director of Briggs Equipment, said he believes the economy would benefit far more from investment in rail freight than in high-speed passenger trains.
HS2 will enable trains to run at 250mph from London to Birmingham from 2026, with branches to Manchester and Leeds coming into operation in 2032.
But Goodwin suggests a golden opportunity is being squandered to revolutionise the way freight is managed in the UK.
“I’m struggling to see the benefits of spending billions on connecting a part of London to a part of the Midlands,” he says. “Is that the most appropriate way of investing in the infrastructure? Is it going to add to the freight distribution network to any great extent?
“Getting people to London quicker will just mean that the commuter belt will increase but it won’t boost the economy. If we are going to invest in rail we should invest in freight. What we need is to get lorries off the road.”
Goodwin added: “With the development of ports and terminals in the UK, we can see the demand for rail growing.
“And with increasing congestion on motorways and roads, particularly in the south, surely the development of a more substantial rail infrastructure which would provide a better routing for freight would be a far more logical step with a far greater economic benefit. It would mean that we would be able to move products around the UK in a much more effective manner.”
The HS2 project has polarised opinion in recent weeks. The scheme – which would see 225mph passenger trains linking Birmingham and London by 2026 and links to Leeds and Manchester six years later – is supported by the majority of West Midlands businesses according to a recent survey but further afield it has been called a “grand folly” by the Institute of Directors and a number of senior politicians have also come out against it.
But yesterday at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the UK’s transport system is nearly at capacity, and that the new line linking London to the North would have the same effect as a 12-lane motorway.
He told the conference that he understood opposition to the scheme but said he was confident it could be delivered on time and within its budget.
McLoughlin said it was wrong that passengers could take a high-speed train to the Continent but had to rely on conventional rail to travel to the UK’s northern cities.
However, Prime Minister David Cameron said there was a “limit” to the amount of money that he will spend on the HS2 rail link between London and the North, but insisted: “HS2 is going to happen.”
