By Richard Johnstone | 17 March 2014
The chair of the government company planning the construction of the High Speed 2 rail link has called on ministers to speed up the building timetable to spread the benefits of the line across the country.
Sir David Higgins, who has undertaken a review of the scheme following his appointment as chair of HS2 Ltd in January, today said accelerating construction of the line to Crewe would allow high-speed trains to serve more destinations sooner.
Current plans are for the line to open between London and Birmingham in 2026 and on to Manchester and Leeds by 2033.
However, Higgins, who is the former chief executive of Network Rail, called for the first stage of the line to extended to Crewe by 2027. This would allow trains on the high-speed line to continue on to Manchester, Liverpool and Wales, he said, improving journey times.
Higgins’ HS2 Plus report stated speeding up construction to Crewe was of greater priority than the planned connection between the new line and the existing High Speed 1 link from St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel. This ‘sub-optimal’ proposal should be scrapped to save around £700m from the project’s total £42.6bn budget.
‘The HS2 platforms at Euston will be a short distance from those at HS1, and one stop on the London Underground,’ Higgins said. ‘That is the equivalent of transferring from one terminal to another at Heathrow. I believe the government should, therefore, consider whether the cost – at around £700m – is good value or whether it would be better to consider an alternative, which would deliver the benefits of a link without compromising existing services.’
If these changes were implemented, Higgins said the existing budget would be enough to deliver the scheme without any extra costs.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said the government would now commission detailed work on speeding up construction to Crewe, and would remove the planned link between HS1 and HS2 from the High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Bill.
In a written statement to Parliament, he said the HS1 link required too many compromises in terms of impacts on freight, passengers and the local community.
‘I, therefore, intend to take the necessary steps to remove the link from the Bill and withdraw the safeguarding of this section of the route as soon as possible. I will also commission a study into ways to improve connections to the continent that could be implemented once the initial stages of HS2 are complete.
‘HS2 is a project that will be built over many parliaments and will serve people for many generations. We must design it carefully and build it correctly. The government is keen to rise to the challenge and we hope that honourable members on all sides of the House will do the same.’
Higgins’ report was welcomed by Network Rail, which as the operator of the existing network said improved integration would transform the railway.
Group strategy director Paul Plummer said: ‘HS2 will sit at the heart of Britain’s transport network, allowing us to reshape the railway in a way that incremental improvements simply cannot. That’s why we welcome the report’s recommendations and its call for an integrated approach to planning and operating the railway.
‘We can deliver the biggest benefit for passengers, communities and freight if we plan for the high speed and existing lines to operate seamlessly together. This will also ensure we build upon investments we are making today, such as the Northern Hub, to improve connectivity between major towns and cities.’
