‘Bring in the top brains to develop HS2 hub’

THE city of Leeds needs to be asking “the best brains in the world” to dream up a new transport interchange for HS2, the council’s chief executive has said.

Tom Riordan said Leeds should look at the redeveloped King’s Cross station in London as a good example of the transformative effect that transport investment can have on an area.

He said building HS2 from the North will become a real possibility if the city region can link the new station to developments in a wider masterplan.

The planned Leeds New Lane station will be joined to the existing station via a dedicated pedestrian link. This transfer time could be further reduced by the introduction of moving walkways.

Mr Riordan said innovative thinking will be required to help the scheme realise its full potential. “It is not just about a walkway but about something much more significant,” he said, citing the example of the High Line linear park in New York as something that Leeds should aspire to.

Mr Riordan added: “What’s been done at King’s Cross is a good example. You can’t really have envisaged 15 years ago what’s happened there. Let’s get people who have been doing that to help us in Leeds. That’s where Sir David Higgins comes in.”

Sir David is the new chairman of HS2 Ltd, the company responsible for developing and promoting the £50bn high-speed rail link between London and the North, and is the man who delivered the London Olympics on time and on budget.

HS2 Ltd held a board meeting in Leeds last week and met with business and civic leaders.

Mr Riordan is hopeful that the company can act as an advocate for the North of England.

He said: “What I heard from them was a need for a national transport strategy... where the improvement of the economy of the North is a fundamental objective. That I think has been missing for the last 20-30 years.”

Mr Riordan said the train stations of Leeds, Bradford, York, Wakefield and Huddersfield are closely located to land available for redevelopment.

“That’s a significant opportunity. Then think of Manchester and Leeds as an urbanised area. Stick a tube map on top of that and you start to get people thinking about the North and its potential.

“It’s a realistic prospect now that HS2 is happening and it has someone with the vision and delivery experience of Sir David Higgins running it. Our meeting with the board was a meeting of minds. We are both ambitious. We both see the potential and we are absolutely determined to work together to deliver it. That has not happened before in the same way with such a significant national agency.

“How many times has the UK Trade & Investment met in the North? The Homes and Communities Agency? The Environment Agency? The Highways Agency?

“At last we have a real actual say – we need to take advantage of that.”

He added that local authorities could look for innovative financing mechanisms with the private sector to help regenerate these areas, leading to jobs and investment to win over Yorkshire sceptics of the HS2 scheme.

Mr Riordan said Network Rail’s planned upgrade of the city centre station could become part of the wider plan for the new interchange.

He added that the scheme could win over more supporters if the Government and HS2 Ltd could address the city region’s five-point plan.

This includes compensation, cost control, issues around the route, building from the North and connecting the city region, said Mr Riordan.

Small and medium-sized businesses in Yorkshire have questioned HS2.

A survey by law firm Nabarro for the Yorkshire Post revealed a lack of business appetite, a mistrust of the supposed economic benefits for the North, demand for construction to begin at both ends and desire for alternative investment in existing infrastructure.

“I have the greatest respect for SMEs in Yorkshire and dealt with them for 15 years,” said the former CEO of Yorkshire Forward.

“The Government and HS2 Ltd have got to start doing that to show there is genuine and real economic benefit if this is done in the right way.

“It’s also making people aware that the vast majority of Department for Transport funding goes to London and the South East.

“Ours should be the priority given that Crossrail in London is delivering perfectly well.”

Sir David said last week that Yorkshire’s cities must unite and work together to secure improvements to transport networks or risk losing out.

Twitter: @bernardginns