The High Speed Rail Group has released a report calling for a comprehensive long-term strategy for high-speed rail which it says will help stimulate economic growth and develop the country’s inter-urban rail network. The report called High Speed Rail: Exploiting the Potential outlines five areas for the next government to explore whilst urging them to ‘look beyond HS2’.
It argues that a clear direction is needed, to ensure mistakes from previous years which has seen HS2 Phase 2 scrapped alongside the curtailing of the eastern leg of the line have been made as well seeing European counterparts continue to progress plans to exploit the potential of High Speed Rail.
Exploring alternative funding models including private investment which the group highlight as a possibility for the link between Old Oak Common to Euston station in London as an example of where this could be implemented. However, to do this, the group are urging that the link between the two stations is given the go-ahead “immediately”.
The report asks the new government to “develop a funding model which allows the Euston station works to be completed and give immediate go-ahead to the section of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston, and in particular avoids any costly delays to the tunnelling work which will cost considerably more to deliver in future than if they are done now”.
In order to fully realise the potential of high speed rail, an emphasis on new links in areas where the benefits would be seen the most has also been recommended. This comes after four high profile cancellations of high speed projects, all related to HS2 including the Golborne Link, HS2 phase 2 and the connection from Birmingham to the East Midlands Hub.
The groups urges any new government to recommit to a new link between Birmingham and the North West which it believes will alleviate the serious bottleneck currently seen on the West Coast Main Line as well as helping expand freight opportunities. It also recommends ensuring that a link from Liverpool to Hull is also explored. The current government has committed £16 billion after the cancellation of HS2 to proceed with Northern Powerhouse Rail, which will run from Liverpool to Manchester, via Warrington and Manchester Airport.
Securing land previously earmarked for HS2 has also been recommended until long-term decisions have been made, to avoid what the group believes could be a “costly fire-sale of land”.
Other recommendations include “engaging with the infrastructure investment community” to look at funding options and recommitting to working towards a 3-hour journey time from London-Glasgow/Edinburgh, which has been quietly dropped from both UK and Scottish governments plans once HS2 phase 2 was cancelled.
Dyan Perry, Chair of the High Speed Rail Group, commented: “If the UK is to achieve its growth and net zero aims, we urgently need to develop a comprehensive strategy for high speed rail travel, whilst thinking creatively to unlock the maximum investment possible.
The next Government must take smart, long-term decisions to maximise wider benefits and reach regions calling out for investment.”
Read the exclusive comment for RAIL by HSRG Chair, Dyan Perry here
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