According to the official statement, the Y-shaped national high speed rail network linking London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, and including stops in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, as well as direct links to the HS1 line and into Heathrow Airport, would cost £32 billion to construct, and would generate benefits of around £44 billion, as well as revenues totalling a further £27 billion.

The high speed rail will bring central London to within 49 minutes of central Birmingham and within 80 minutes or less of Leeds and Manchester.

“The first phase alone of a national network would support the creation of more than 40,000 jobs and contribute to major regeneration programmes in Britain’s inner cities,” states the official announcement.

The Government will also explore the case for high speed rail links to other international gateways. The Birmingham Interchange station would bring Birmingham International Airport within 40 minutes of central London, and HS2 Ltd is considering the case for stations serving Manchester and East Midlands Airports as part of its current work on route proposals for the legs to Manchester and Leeds.

The consultation will run until 29 July 2011 and seeks views on: the case for high speed rail; strategy for a national high speed network; the proposed route for an initial line from London to the West Midlands; and options for providing assistance to those who are detrimentally affected by any new line.

Responses can be submitted through the HS2 Consultation website, or sent to a freepost address.

http://highspeedrail.dft.gov.uk/

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