High speed rail moves a step closer

High speed rail moved a step closer to Greater Manchester today, with the government approving the first phase of High Speed 2 in an announcement welcomed by Greater Manchester transport leaders.

The Y-shaped route proposed will link London to Birmingham in its first phase, confirmed in today's announcement. The second phase would then see the route branch out into two lines, one to Manchester and one to Leeds.

Councillor Andrew Fender, Chairman of the Transport for Greater Manchester Committee, said: "Today's announcement is excellent news, as it paves the way for bringing high speed rail to Greater Manchester. Cities are the engine of the economy and if the local economy is to expand and thrive, we need fast, efficient transport links to and from the UK's other major cities.

"Now that the government has committed to building a high speed rail link from London to Birmingham, we will continue to work closely with district authorities and other partner organisations to ensure a similar commitment to the section of the route that will go on to Manchester.

"As anyone who regularly travels on the railway will know, capacity on the current network is reaching its limits. Greater Manchester's rail connections to London were designed in the Victorian era, and simply won't be able to cope if passenger demand continues to grow.

"Importantly, high speed rail would also improve rail travel for local commuters, as the high speed line will free up much-needed capacity elsewhere on the network and ease overcrowding on Greater Manchester's local services.

"We'll also be continuing to make the case to the government that the success of High Speed 2 will be dependent on the full delivery of the Northern Hub programme, which would improve and expand the existing rail network around Greater Manchester and allow passengers to make their onward journeys."

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council and campaign chair of HSR UK, said: "This is welcome news. We believe that the high speed rail line (HS2) is essential to help address imbalances in our nation's economy and help attract jobs and investment to Greater Manchester and other areas outside London and the south east.
"A new high speed line will help create much needed extra capacity on the existing rail network and will complement the huge investment which is taking place in local transport here. We now call on the government to do everything possible to push ahead with construction as soon as possible.

"The success of Manchester, and Greater Manchester, depends on continued investment in transport and this is a positive step in the right direction."