The high speed rail network should link London to Birmingham, Manchester, the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds, and be capable of carrying trains at up to 250 miles per hour. This Y-shaped network of around 335 miles would bring the West Midlands within about half an hour of London, and deliver journey times of around 75 minutes from Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester to the capital. Connections onto existing tracks would be included, allowing direct high speed train services to be operated to cities including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Liverpool as soon as the line opens. Further consideration will also be given to extending the network subsequently to these and other major destinations. The first step in building such a network would be a high speed line from London to Birmingham, for which the Government has today published details of High Speed Two Ltd’s (HS2 Ltd) recommended route. Full public consultation on that route, and the longer term strategy for high speed rail, will begin in the Autumn and detailed planning work will now also begin on the route options from Birmingham to Manchester and to Leeds to allow consultation on these routes in 2012.

According to the Government’s established High Speed Two Ltd (HS2 Ltd), a high speed line from London to Birmingham would offer high value for money as the foundation for such a network will deliver more than £2 of benefits for every £1 spent.

"The proposed high speed rail strategy I am setting out today will now go forward to full public consultation in the Autumn. Building this network would not only revolutionise Britain's transport, but would also present significant new opportunities for the UK’s design, engineering, construction and manufacturing sectors, creating new jobs and skills," said Lord Adonis.

The Government has formed its proposals after consideration of a detailed report from HS2 Ltd, the company set up by the Government in January 2009 to investigate the case for high speed rail.

Under the proposals, the recommended route for a London-Birmingham high speed line would run from a rebuilt Euston station to a new Birmingham City Centre station at Fazeley/Curzon Street. A Crossrail interchange station would be built at Old Oak Common in West London, giving the new line direct connections to the West End, City and Docklands via Crossrail, to the South West via the Great Western main line and to Heathrow via the Heathrow Express. A second interchange station could also be located to the south east of Birmingham - offering direct links to Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre and the M6 and M42.
“We are delighted that Euston has been chosen as the preferred London terminus for High Speed 2. For more than 4 years, Network Rail has been talking about the modernisation of Euston Station, but no development agreement has been signed with its preferred developer, British Land, nor has a masterplan been produced. We hope that today’s decision will ensure that the planning can now begin in earnest for a new Euston Station,” said Richard Anning, Chief Executive of Sydney & London Properties who act as Project Manager for the Euston Estate.

In the first instance the line would connect to Heathrow airport through a direct link to the Heathrow Express at Old Oak Common. However, the Government has today appointed Lord Mawhinney, a former Transport Secretary, to examine potential options for a future station at the airport itself. Further work is also being carried out to assess options for a connection to the wider European high speed rail network, through either or both a dedicated rapid transport system linking Euston and St Pancras and a direct rail link to High Speed One.

“High-speed rail is a good thing and is complementary to easyJet - our average sector length is 1100km," commented on the news easyJet’s Chief Executive Andy Harrison.

HS2 Ltd have provided an estimated cost of £30 billion for the core 'Y' network and also found that construction costs for major projects in the UK are higher than for comparable projects elsewhere in Europe. In the light of this evidence, Infrastructure UK - the body set up to help ensure that publicly funded infrastructure is effectively prioritised and delivered - will work with the Department for Transport to consider whether and how construction costs can be reduced. Further work on HS2 Ltd’s cost estimates may be required following the completion of that work.

The Government proposes to secure the powers to deliver any high speed network by means of a single Hybrid Bill. Depending on the outcome of consultation and Parliamentary timescales and approval, this should allow construction to start after the Crossrail scheme is completed from 2017 with the high speed network opening in phases from 2026.

Have your say. Do you think HS2 should go via Heathrow?

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