Stop squabbling over HS2 urges minister

Speaking during a visit to Leeds yesterday, Mr McLoughlin said that securing a political consenus on the controversial scheme was “very important”.

Plans for the £42bn project were first proposed when Labour was in power but last year Shadow Chancellor and Morley and Outwood MP Ed Balls threw the party’s continued support into doubt by raising concerns about spiralling costs,

Mr McLoughlin said: “There are always going to be questions and demands to keep costs down and we have got to try to do that.

“But if you delay too long, that way costs can end up rising too.”

Yesterday’s visit came as HS2 project head Sir David Higgins called for the northern and southern sections of the route to be built at the same time.

He told a national newspaper there was “no reason” why the scheme should be seen “purely as a London to Birmingham project”.

Under present plans, work on the London-Birmingham part of the line is due for completion in 2026.

However, construction of a second, Y-shaped route north of Birmingham to Yorkshire and Manchester is not scheduled to begin until the mid-2020s, with services set to start running in 2032.

Sir David, who will issue a report on the progress of HS2 next month said: “We should consider this as one project. The North is terrified this will be a bypass to Birmingham and then the project will lose momentum. That would be disastrous.”

Asked about the comments, Mr McLoughlin said: “Obviously I think David Higgins is doing his job with vigour.

“A lot of people are saying we want the route sooner but I am waiting for David’s report to come to me in March.

“You don’t appoint someone like David Higgins and tell him what he should and should not be looking at.”

Sir David yesterday echoed Mr McLoughlin’s call for cross-party unity on HS2, saying political differences posed the “biggest risk” to the scheme.

He said delays caused by arguments in Parliament would lead to increased costs for the taxpayer on a project that was desperately needed to reduce overcrowding.

Sir David, who took up his role as chairman of the HS2 initiative at the start of the year, said that the Birmingham to London line he regularly uses is “unbelievably packed, absolutely heaving”.

He said the west coast route was performing at capacity and showing the strain as the busiest mixed use railway line in Europe, but HS2 would deliver 18 trains an hour in each direction.

He also predicted that the problem of overcrowding could get worse, saying: “You won’t get on trains. It will be like the Piccadilly Line at peak hour. Usually I stand for three trains before I can get on. You’ll be doing that at Milton Keynes. You’ll be forming queues to get on trains.”

A public consultation on the proposed route of HS2 from Birmingham to Yorkshire closed on Friday, with campaigners expressing fears it could rip the heart out of some rural communities.

Yesterday, Selby and Ainsty’s Conservative MP, Nigel Adams, revealed he had voiced a number of “major concerns”.

They included the proximity of the line to homes to the west of Church Fenton and the “limited scope for integration” that would be offered by having a purpose-built HS2 station in New Lane, Leeds, operating as a terminus. Another point raised by Mr Adams was that people in his constituency who currently use services from Selby or Doncaster would see no overall reduction in journey times.

Ministers also have a decision to make on the course the line will follow in South Yorkshire, amid calls for a new HS2 station to be built in the middle of Sheffield instead of the previously-proposed stop at Meadowhall.

Another development last week saw Wakefield councillors voting to oppose HS2. Wakefield Council leader Peter Box urged a wider debate on the future of transport in the North, including alternative plans for high-speed rail, investment in the road network and a possible long-term replacement for Leeds Bradford Airport.

Leeds City Council remains supportive of HS2 but is also suggesting there could be a case for a new airport. North Yorkshire County Council has backed high-speed rail, although it has expressed disquiet over the scheme’s potential impact on the village of Ulleskelf.

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