Yorkshire cities will escape havoc of massive engineering project

ROUTE

Paul Whitehouse

A NEW high-speed rail link between Yorkshire cities and London will be one of the biggest engineering projects of the era in the United Kingdom.

But despite the scale of the project and the fact that new rail links will inevitably have to go through congested urban districts, it is expected it will be possible to complete the project without wreaking havoc on Yorkshire's city centres.

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Planners spent last year working on the phase-one route between London and Birmingham and the scheme will largely exploit redundant railway land.

That is particularly relevant in London, where former track beds are still available. The line into Birmingham expected to run alongside existing tracks.

Public consultation will follow and planning consent will be needed before the scheme is allowed to progress but the company which has created the current proposals, HS2, has recommended a route in a tunnel from Euston to the Crossrail interchange station near Paddington.

It would leave London via the Ruislip area in the west of the city, following an existing rail corridor and through Buckinghamshire towards Aylesbury before shadowing the route of the A413 past Wendover.

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North of the Chilterns the recommended route would follow part of the former Great Central rail alignment before passing Brackley in Northamptonshire and into Warwickshire, entering Birmingham alongside an existing railway line.

A new interchange is expected to be built between the New Street and Moor Street stations in the city, forming a centrepiece which would contribute to wider plans for the regeneration of East Birmingham.

Although those plans largely follow existing or previous transport routes, it would potentially involve the loss of more than 400 homes, mainly in the Euston area of London and Transport Minister Lord Adonis announced the creation of an "exceptional hardship" scheme for those with properties directly affected.

Current proposals do not include a direct link to Heathrow Airport, but it would be connected by a service taking 11 minutes.

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Former Tory Transport Secretary Lord Mawhinney will now examine whether there is a case for a Heathrow station, although Transport Minister Lord Adonis stated it was necessary to avoid a "knee-jerk reaction" on such a complex issue.

It is envisaged there will be an interchange near Birmingham airport, however.

Although no work has yet started on plans further north, the service could bring similar benefits to Yorkshire cities.

According to the pressure group Greengauge21, set up four years ago to debate the future for high-speed rail, any plans could avoid major disruption to urban centres.

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Director Jim Steer said similar planning could be utilised to minimise problems for the Yorkshire elements of the scheme.

His organisation had already conducted research which showed it would be possible to get in and out of Sheffield with a route that principally uses old railway land.

In Leeds the results would be more difficult to achieve, one complex question being where to position a new railway station.

Experts took a year to come up with the plans for the first phase of the new network and so far no detailed planning has taken place for the route to the north of Birmingham.

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Mr Steer said, however: "If you look at the detail of the plans announced, the approaches in both city centres make extensive use of existing railway corridors, disused in the case of London, and over a broad swathe of railway land in Birmingham.

"That is great and work Greengauge did three years ago showed it would be possible in Sheffield and maybe in Leeds, though it would be harder to find a location for a central station.

"You are looking for some means of doing this with minimal damage to the existing urban fabric and there are corridors where this could be done, certainly in Sheffield.

"You can build a high-speed route into the middle of our major cities without destroying the existing centres."

Tories pour cold water on plans dubbed 'big mistake'

POLITICS

Tom Palmer

Political Correspondent

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THE Government's hopes of a political consensus on high-speed rail look to have little chance of success with the Tories branding their plans "a big mistake".

As business leaders called for a cross party agreement on the way forward, the politicians appeared to move even further apart prompting fears the development of the line beyond Birmingham and into Yorkshire may suffer.

The battle lines over the direction and timescale of the route have been drawn with the Tories promising to build the line faster and criticising Labour for not taking the route through Heathrow Airport.

Tory leader David Cameron said his government would begin work straight away to create a line connecting London, Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

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He said work would begin in 2015 – two years earlier than the start under Labour's plans.

Mr Cameron said: "They are saying they will build high-speed rail to Birmingham and let's not guarantee anything else after Birmingham, and they'll do that by 2025. We are saying that by 2027 our high-speed rail link will be up and running between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds."

The Tory proposals would, however, see the route travel along the west coast with a spur connecting to Leeds – a model that was dismissed by some business leaders for putting the region behind its competitors.

Labour has pledged to develop a Y-shape network with the line splitting at Birmingham and travelling up both the east and west coast.

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But the proposals would mean work would not even begin on the Yorkshire connection until the mid 2020s, and therefore services are unlikely to be running before the late 2030s.

Minister for Yorkshire Rosie Winterton said: "The benefits of our plan are that we not only offer a direct route through Yorkshire, we also stop at Sheffield and we will upgrade the Leeds to Manchester line."

Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West Greg Mulholland welcomed the announcement but was critical of Labour, stating he felt the plans favoured cities along the west coast route.

Jobs threat prompts vote for strikes

MAINTENANCE

Thousands of Network Rail maintenance workers have voted strongly in favour of strikes in a row over jobs, bringing the threat of industrial action over Easter closer.

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The Rail Maritime and Transport union yesterday said 77 per cent of its members who took part in the ballot backed strikes, with 89 per cent supporting action short of a strike.The turnout was 65 per cent.

The ballot was called in protest against plans to cut 1,500 maintenance jobs and change working practices.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow, above, said: "RMT members were faced with a stark choice in this ballot. They could either sit back and wait for these cash-led maintenance cuts to lead to another major disaster on Britain's railways or they could vote to take action to stop the attack on rail safety. They have overwhelmingly voted to take action.

"Nobody should be under any illusions about just how determined RMT members are to win this dispute and to stop this reckless gamble with rail safety.

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"Nearly 150 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion opposing Network Rail's cuts plans and have urged the Government to intervene to call a halt to this jobs carnage on the tracks."

Hopes raised for 33bn boost to region's economy

BENEFITS

Tom Palmer

A DIRECT high-speed rail line through Yorkshire will boost the region's economy by billions of pounds, transport leaders have said.

Welcoming the Government's proposals to build a Y-shaped network, the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) and West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (Metro) said the project would deliver massive benefits to the region's economy.

A report commissioned by SYPTE and Metro has already put the long-term benefits to business of a high-speed rail link serving the Sheffield and Leeds city regions as high as 33bn.

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Both, however, stressed the Yorkshire arm of the network must be built in tandem with any extensions towards Manchester.

SYPTE director general David Brown said: "It is wonderful news that South and West Yorkshire are to be included in the extended high speed network beyond the capital.

"We have been making our argument very strongly that the combined economies of South and West Yorkshire and the East Midlands make up a big part of the wealth generated in England so it is vital that they continue to be competitive in the decades to come.

"But we also stress that until such time that the high speed line arrives in Yorkshire we need to continue to invest and upgrade our existing infrastructure to meet our needs in the short to medium term."

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The joint leader of Leeds City Council, Andrew Carter, said: "A high speed rail network is vital to supporting UK economic growth, but this network must be developed to the benefit of all parts of the country.

"By starting work on parallel routes both and east and west of the Pennines we can ensure that the economies in both the North-East and the North-West are supported and developed."

Gary Williamson of Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce said: "This announcement is fantastic news for our region.

"High speed rail plays a pivotal role in the long-term economic vision for Yorkshire, and the planning and development needs to take place now.

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"Thechamber will continue to work with Lord Adonis and other political parties to secure cross- party support for the plans."Minister rejects fears of 'rich man's railway' with ticket pricing pledge

COSTS

Paul Whitehouse

WHEN high-speed rail arrives in Yorkshire it is expected to change the face of long-distance transport – but the public have already been promised that they will be able to afford to use it.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has already ruled out any ticket pricing structure which would make the network a "rich man's railway" and instead he is determined that it will fall within the budget of mass-market travellers.

No other information about costs has been calculated compared with existing railway links, though projected journey times would be slashed dramatically, meaning the new services should make a convincing alternative to air travel over the distances involved.

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As yet, no decisions have been taken about how the railway will be operated and it remains possible it will remain under state control, unlike the existing railway companies which are run as franchises by private operators.

A Department of Transport spokesman said: "It is too early to give details, but the Government is determined it should not be a rich man's railway."

It would not make economic sense to price the majority of travellers out of the market, he said.

Lord Adonis has already made reference to the way budget airlines offer cheap tickets, indicating affordable fares will be a priority despite the 30bn cost of the scheme.

Parties divided over plans for route north

POLITICS

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BOTH Labour and the Conservatives have backed the development of high-speed rail but have been quick to highlight their differences.

The Government has put forward a Y-shaped network, going from London to Birmingham and then splitting to travel on the east and west sides of the Pennines as far north as Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said work would start in 2017. There are no specific timescales for the continuation of the route beyond the West Midlands.

The Tories propose a single line, taking in Heathrow Airport, that would travel north. Instead of its own high-speed line Yorkshire would be connected via a spur from Leeds to Manchester.

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Work would start in 2015 with a view to completing the line as far as Leeds and Manchester by 2027.

The interim stages (such as London-Birmingham or Birmingham-Manchester) could be ready earlier than 2027 but the party has not set a timetable for this.

HIGH-SPEED RAIL UK TIMELINE

2003: High Speed 1, the 67-mile route from London to the Channel tunnel in Kent opens.

2006: Pressure group Greengauge 21 is launched to promote debate about high-speed rail nationwide.

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2009: Government launches the High Speed 2 company to examine prospects for new north/south link.

2010: Lord Adonis promises swift response to HS2 findings

2015: Tory proposed start date for construction work on London to Birmingham phase.

2017: Expected start date under current Government objective.

2025: High-speed services should start between London and Birmingham.

2035: Services from Yorkshire unlikely to start before this date.