Businesses urged to support high speed rail
Date published: 09 June 2011
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce brought business leaders together yesterday (8 June) to discuss the High Speed Rail (HSR) campaign and its economic impact on our region.
The discussion was lead by North West Investment in Rail campaign director, Susan Williams, who urged businesses to sign up to support the campaign and respond to the Government’s HSR consultation. The proposals have a very strong business case and are backed by a host of business organisations across the North. But the positive messages of jobs and investment are in danger of being drowned out by a vocal minority of people in the south of the country who, for a variety of reasons, are opposed to the scheme.
The group at the Chamber’s round table event, which included Stephen Clark, Rail Programme Director at Transport for Greater Manchester, and John Twigg, Group Planning Director at Manchester Airport, discussed the key points surrounding the campaign, which include: the huge additional transport capacity that HSR will deliver, a significant reduction in journey times from Manchester to key cities, such as Birmingham and London, the creation of 40,000 jobs and the huge confidence boost to the region that the announcement of HSR would bring.
Commenting on the High Speed Rail discussion, Clive Memmott, Chief Executive of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is essential for businesses to understand the importance of supporting the campaign for High Speed Rail now.
“One of the benefits that the project will bring is additional rail capacity.
“The West Coast Main Line is predicted to reach its full capacity for freight and commuter trains within the next 10 years. Now is the time to act.
“We have to make sure that we give the green light to future infrastructure projects now, otherwise we miss the opportunity to make a real difference to the Greater Manchester and North West economy.”
The main aim of the group is to now encourage colleagues, businesses and partner organisations to respond positively to the Government’s consultation and to sign up and show their support for the campaign.
The consultations ends on 29 July and businesses can respond by going online to http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk or by visiting the campaign website at www.campaignforhsr.com.
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