Supreme Court rejects HS2 legal challenge

THE Supreme Court has rejected a legal challenge from opponents of the HS2 high speed rail scheme.

The challenge was mounted by protestors who believed the Government had failed to carry out proper environmental impact studies when preparing the case for the £50bn project.

The opponents had been hoping a legal ruling in their favour would force the Government to rethink.

However, the ruling removes a further barrier to the controversial scheme’s progress although further challenges could be mounted against phase two of the project which involves the extension of the route to Manchester and Leeds.

Business leaders in Birmingham welcomed the court’s decision.

Tim Pile, president of Birmingham Chamber said: “HS2 has the potential to deliver transformational effect on the region. Research by Centro has shown that the scheme could generate 51,000 jobs and £4.1bn in growth every year.

“This will provide an essential stimulus to the regional economy and generate new business opportunities and jobs.

“In a poll conducted by the chamber in Q4 2013, 45% of our members said that HS2 would have a significant positive impact on the West Midlands economy, up from 33% in Q3 2013.

“The government’s spend on infrastructure in the last 10 years has almost entirely been London-centric. HS2 represents an important shift in this trend and is exactly what the region needs.”

Centro chief executive, Geoff Inskip, said the Supreme Court’s rejection of the challenges against HS2 was excellent news for the West Midlands as high speed rail would deliver jobs and economic growth right across the region.

“The Supreme Court ruling is great news because it is essential we press on and build HS2 without delay to deliver jobs and economic growth to the regions.

“At Centro we are working hard with partners to ensure we have the right infrastructure in place to maximise the economic benefits and bring much-needed capacity on our increasingly crowded railways,” he said.

“Our research concludes that high speed rail will deliver 51,000 jobs and £4.1bn per year benefitting people right across the West Midlands.”

Mr Inskip added: “HS2 will bring fast, direct services but it will also release capacity on our busy and congested existing network for more local, regional and freight services.”

Neil Rami, chief executive of Marketing Birmingham, which operates inward investment programme Business Birmingham, said: “It is important that we continue to focus on the big benefits that HS2 will bring. The UK’s rail network is becoming full to bursting and we cannot put off taking action to solve the capacity crisis. HS2 will open up the Midlands and the North of England to businesses and commuters alike, benefiting the West Midlands alone to the tune of £4.1bn per year, creating 51,000 jobs.

“We must not allow this important project to become mired in bureaucracy; escalating the overall cost to the taxpayer and delaying this essential improvement to our over-burdened national transport network. The project needs to be pushed ahead quickly, without delay, otherwise we risk stymieing regional economies outside London.”