Chancellor pledges 8,000 HS2 jobs for Birmingham
CHANCELLOR of the Exchequer George Osborne today pledged 8,000 new jobs for Birmingham with the development of the HS2 rail link.
Speaking on a visit to Birmingham Mr Osborne said the £17bn project was a vital piece of transport infrastructure for not just the West Midlands, but the whole of the UK.
“I am here today to give advance notice of the creation of thousands of new jobs for Birmingham as a result of High Speed Rail,” he said.
“The project will create 10,000 construction jobs followed by 8,000 permanent jobs in and around Birmingham itself – 4,500 of which will be based in Curzon Street.
“These are not my figures they are the findings of a new independent study into the project, which is a vital piece of transport infrastructure both for Birmingham and the rest of the country.”
The announcement reinforces recent reports about thousands of new jobs coming to the Washwood Heath area of the city – one of the most deprived areas of the country – with the development of an HS2 maintenance facility on the site of the former LDV factory.
The move will provide a welcome boost to a traditional manufacturing area decimated by the twin closures of the van maker and the former Alstom train works.
However, anyone expecting the jobs to be created overnight will be disappointed. It is estimated that provided the rail scheme gets planning approval, it will be around 2025 before it is fully operational.
Nevertheless, Mr Osborne was in bullish mood.
“This is a long term project but it is the policy of this Government to invest in improvements to transport infrastructure and here in the West Midlands we will see that through HS2 and improvements to New Street Station as well as to the upgrade of the M6 at Spaghetti Junction,” he said.
