UK
‘Full HS2 is essential. Labour should keep its options open and not sell off land’
This week’s news that the Government wants to scrap HS2 Phase 2 is a devastating blow to the North, the Midlands, the railway industry and the whole UK economy.
For 15 years rail businesses employing thousands of people and investing billions of pounds, have worked with the Government to develop this project – their project – to take it from a concept to construction. Companies have invested in those people, skills and equipment, on the back of it, with some even relocating in anticipation of it being completed.
It is true the costs of the project have risen over those 15 years. In recent years inflation has been rampant in the UK economy and the construction sector has been impacted far more than most.
But the principal cause of any real term increases lies in the chopping and changing of the project’s scope, with the announcement by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday 4 October, that the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 was to be scrapped being the fourth major change by the Government in just three years.
Previously, the Eastern Leg to Leeds and the Golborne Link enabling High Speed trains to get to and from Scotland, were cancelled, and recently the route from Old Oak Common to Euston was paused.
This is the biggest most damaging U-turn in UK infrastructure history
As any project manager will tell you, the cheapest way to deliver is against a fixed scope without constant changes. This is the biggest and most damaging U-turn in the history of UK infrastructure.
What we are left with now is a plan for a London-Birmingham-Manchester railway that will not deliver the transformational benefits that the north of England needs. Indeed, the solution proposed by the Prime Minister is a recipe for disaster.
Merging HS2 trains onto existing lines at Birmingham will create a huge bottleneck, akin to the M40 merging onto an A-road and then a country lane – rather than the M6. Rail connectivity to the north will be worse than it is today.
That is why it is inconceivable that HS2 will not eventually reach Manchester.
So the industry recommits to delivering Phase 1 from London to Birmingham as efficiently as it can, whilst continuing to make the case that this should be just the beginning of a network that reaches Manchester, Leeds, and many more cities. We in the rail industry stand ready to work on those future developments.
The proposed investment through ‘Network North’ needs to be considered carefully, and any rail schemes assured in the project pipeline would of course be welcome. But cancelling Phase 2 of HS2 frees up just £1-3 billion in the next five years, meaning any improvements are still far over the horizon.
It can’t be a choice between HS2 and other projects
If we want to truly level up our country, it cannot be a choice between HS2 and other projects. We need 21st century infrastructure, bringing all of our cities closer together. HS2 is the key foundation for that network, creating much more capacity in UK rail than exists today.
Every other major European country has managed to build a high-speed rail network, recognising it as a vital part of a modern society and economy for years to come. We’d like to think the UK still could too.
That’s why we are calling on Labour, indeed all politicians with a say in these matters, to commit to three things:
1. Keep options open for the future. The new ‘Network North’ proposals are not a clear or sufficient plan. New rail links providing much more capacity, between Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds – and more – will all need to happen one day.
2. Safeguard the route. If the Birmingham-Manchester route can continue to be safeguarded, then we can still build the capacity that the railway will need when public finances allow.
3. Don’t sell off the land. A rushed land sale will be poor value for money for taxpayers.
Ultimately, delivering the full HS2 is essential for the UK economy, connectivity, levelling up and decarbonisation ambitions for the years ahead.
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