Yorkshire on track for jobs bonanza with HS2

The Prime Minister and his most senior Ministers will travel north this morning to hold a rare Cabinet meeting outside of Westminster, during which they will formally give the green light to the second phase of the HS2 project which links Birmingham to Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester.

Writing in today’s Yorkshire Post, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin reveals that HS2 will actually extend beyond the centre of Leeds, stopping several miles short of York, where it will connect with the East Coast main line. That will allow new hybrid trains – which can travel on both standard and high-speed rail – to slash journey times between York and London to just one hour 23 minutes.

Mr McLoughlin also reveals he will bring forward the start of the official consultation on phase two of the project – which runs from Birmingham to Leeds, via Sheffield Meadowhall – to later this year rather than 2014.

The Yorkshire Post understands that Mr McLoughlin has instructed officials to investigate every possible way to bring the completion date for the scheme forward from its current target of 2032.

The Government has come under fierce pressure from the Tory backbenches to abandon HS2 owing to its enormous cost.

But Mr Cameron made clear last night he remains firmly committed to a project he sees as essential to the regeneration of the North.

The Prime Minister said: “Linking communities and businesses across the country and shrinking the distances between our greatest cities, high-speed rail is an engine for growth that will help to drive regional regeneration and invigorate our regional economies. It is vital that we get on board the high-speed revolution.

“We are in a global race, and this Government’s decision to make high-speed rail a reality is another example of the action we are taking to equip Britain to compete and thrive in that race.

“High-speed rail is a catalyst that will help to secure economic prosperity across Britain, rebalance our economy and support tens of thousands of jobs.”

The economic opportunities made possible by the scheme are highlighted in two separate reports today. Department for Transport figures show that around 100,000 construction and maintenance jobs should be created across the North – including more than 13,000 in Leeds alone.

Those figures include estimates for the huge regeneration schemes which are certain to be triggered by the construction of a second rail station in the centre of Leeds and another on the outskirts of Sheffield at Meadowhall.

Meanwhile a separate study by think-tank Oxford Economics has concluded the knock-on benefits for northern cities of seeing their journey times to the capital and to one another slashed will lead to 250,000 jobs being created. That figure includes 73,000 more jobs in Leeds, 58,000 in Manchester and 41,000 in Sheffield.

Mr McLoughlin said: “High- speed rail is an unparalleled opportunity to secure a step-change in Britain’s competitiveness and this Government will do everything possible to ensure that Leeds, Sheffield, York and the wider Yorkshire economy benefits by getting the connections they need and deserve to thrive.”

Labour last night warmly welcomed the announcement, but called on Ministers to accelerate the scheme by building from both ends of the new line.

Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle said last year’s consultation for the first part of the line – between London and Birmingham – had been “botched” and warned that court challenges by anti-HS2 lobby groups could delay the project’s progress.

“There are worrying signs that the DfT timetable to deliver this vital infrastructure is slipping, and we believe Ministers should be working more vigorously to ensure the proposals are delivered on time,” she said.