High Speed 2 preferred route announcement ‘before Christmas’
THE GOVERNMENT’S preferred route for a high speed rail line connecting London to Birmingham and the North of England will be announced before Christmas, the Secretary of State for Transport told a Midlands business audience yesterday.
The Government will start a consultation process in the New Year on a ‘Y’ shaped high speed rail network with separate legs from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds. The preferred route for the first leg between London and Birmingham will be part of this consultation, the minister said.
Speaking at a business debate on High Speed 2 at Birmingham’s NEC conference centre, Philip Hammond said he would personally monitor plans to mitigate negative impacts of the new rail route, while urging business leaders to “speak up and speak out” for the railway line.
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Representatives of the British Chambers of Commerce, CBI and IoD attended the debate, as well as business leaders from the West Midlands and the North of England.
Mr Hammond said he wanted to assuage concerns of home and business owners who will be affected by the route, announcingdetails about the Exceptional Hardship Scheme to compensate people in special circumstances who need to sell their home or business now.
Subsequent compensation schemes would be introduced he said that would compensate home and business owners for loss of value to their properties.
Mr Hammond said the High Speed 2 project was central to the government’s drive to rebalance the economy, and claimed high speed rail could help tackle the North-South divide. Birmingham’s Eastside, where a high speed rail station is expected, would be at the heart of British national transport infrastructure.
High Speed 2 contributed to the government’s decision not to expand airports in the South East of England and Mr Hammond spoke of a “modal shift” towards better use of rail. The Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport, Paul Kehoe, also spoke at the debate and described how high speed rail will effectively “move the airport 70 miles closer to central London, placing it somewhere near Edgware on the Northern Line”. Journey times from London to the airport are expected to be cut to about 35 minutes when the new rail line is opened.
Other speakers at the debate included Paul Thandi, Chief Executive of NEC Group and Simon Topman, Chairman of the West Midlands Chambers of Commerce.
The Government will consult the New Year on a ‘Y’ shaped high speed rail network with separate legs from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds. The preferred route for the first leg between London and Birmingham will be part of this consultation, the minister said.
