Rail link benefits may come early

Transport thinktank Greengauge 21 has set out how HS2 – the first stage of the proposed line between London and the West Midlands – could be enhanced and cost savings delivered with relatively modest refinements.

The Government wants to eventually build a Y-shape route, starting the first phase from the capital to Birmingham before the next two lines – one travelling eastwards through Yorkshire and one west towards Lancashire – are built simultaneously.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has said the first phase would open by 2026, with the extensions branching east and w est up and running by 2032.

However the Greengauge 21 report, submitted to Government in July for the HS2 consultation and published today, outlines how a connection from HS2 to the Midland Main Line could, if incorporated into the first stage of route development, provide for high-speed services to London from the East Midlands, Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle from the outset.

The report claims that this would bring forward by several years the benefits of the proposed “Y-shaped” network and ensures that Yorkshire as well as the North West and West Midlands will benefit in the early years.

Jim Steer, Director of Greengauge 21, said: “We fully support the development of a high-speed rail network for Britain.

“The scheme as proposed already delivers good value for money, with £2 of benefits for every £1 invested.

“However, work that we have carried out with our public interest group shows that the benefits can be expanded considerably while reducing costs.”

In addition the report claims there are better ways of designing HS2 in London and highlights the case for removing the outer suburban services from Euston station by instead routing them into Crossrail.

It says: “Not only would this improve the Crossrail scheme and widen access across London for passengers from north-west London, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, but it would relieve the passenger demands on Euston station and the underground network, allowing cost savings to be made in HS2 scheme design.”

PwC has also published analysis of what the Government could expect to see as a financial return if it sells the infrastructure of HS2.

Figures show it could produce between £6bn and £7bn as a return on its £13.9bn investment.

In November last year, the Government completed the transfer of a 30-year concession of HS1 – the Channel Tunnel high speed rail link – to a consortium for £2.1bn.

The sale took place shortly after the completion of the 108km line that cost approximately £5.8bn to design and build.

The findings add more weight to the Yorkshire Post’s campaign Fast Track to Yorkshire, which is supported by business leaders and politicians in calling for a direct link to London.

The campaign is supported by the Government, which is currently in a fierce battle with opposition groups in Tory heartlands such as the Chilterns and rural Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire which the first stage of the route travels through.

A number of party donors have threatened to pull their funding if the line is built, claiming their quality of life would be damaged if the network travels through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.