Reactions to Government’s preferred northern route for HS2

On November 15th, the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd confirmed the majority of the preferred high-speed rail route in the North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling MP revealed plans for Phase 2 the HS2 project which will see the line run from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds.

As these plans could be a major boost for the UK’s future economy, and significantly enhance the network in the North, Bdaily has collected several reactions from leading figures in the region.

Along with the Phase 2 announcement, the DfT also confirmed plans for Leeds Station to be remodelled into an integrated ‘Yorkshire Hub’ to accommodate HS2 alongside regional and local services.

Leader of Leeds City Council Councillor Judith Blake

“This is very welcome news not only to provide further confidence that HS2 will be completed in its entirety but also to offer certainty in that everyone can now know exactly where and how it will come into Leeds.

That is hugely important as now planning at all levels can be carried out in an informed way around HS2, what it means and where it will go.

This announcement also confirms the remodelling of Leeds Station as a single integrated transport hub, which is very pleasing as it is a key element of the South Bank Leeds development which aims to provide more than 35,000 jobs, over 4,000 homes and educational facilities for over 10,000 students.“

Councillor Keith Wakefield, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee

“HS2 will be the largest single investment in transport ever in north of England and it will deliver a transformational change to growth and jobs in West Yorkshire and the Leeds City Region economy.

The combined authority is committed to a £1bn-plus programme of transport developments and recent successes have included the recently-opened new rail stations at Apperley Bridge and Kirkstall Forge and the award-winning Leeds Station Southern Entrance.

I am pleased the plans announced today have confirmed the opportunities for HS2’s integration with the Northern Powerhouse Rail network, which the combined authority wants to see providing much-needed improvements to links between Leeds, Bradford, York and Manchester.

We will be continuing to impress on HS2 Ltd the importance of work with communities along the route on the local implications, and we will also be calling for construction of HS2’s Yorkshire leg to start, in Yorkshire, as soon as possible.“

However, the Transport Secretary’s Phase 2 announcement also included the controversial decision to not include a new station in Sheffield since proposals to run trains to Meadowhall were postponed. The DfT stated that the government’s preferred option is for the city centre station to serve the HS2 line.

A consultation is continuing and a final decision on the route the HS2 will take in South Yorkshire will be made at a later date.

Andrew Denniff, Chief Executive at Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce

“Our Chamber has consistently supported HS2 as a project along with the originally proposed route at Meadowhall which would, we believe, provide much greater connectivity and have many more stops per hour than the recently proposed branch line into Sheffield Midland.

From a South Yorkshire perspective, the key benefits of HS2 have always been the catalyst it provides to regenerate and develop the city region’s economy, but from a regional perspective the latest offer on the table from government is woefully short of achieving this and we continue to be concerned by a worrying lack of parity when it comes to investing in our region, compared to say Leeds or Manchester.

If the government stick with the latest proposals they must also urgently look at other initiatives that will support economic growth in the region including enhanced Trans-Pennine links and improved rail connectivity to our regional airport.“

Richard Wright, Executive Director of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce

“We are delighted to see that today’s announcement clearly demonstrates the Government’s preference for a city centre station location in Sheffield that will deliver the best economic return and jobs.

We also completely understand that, because this is a route change from the original, the Government now has to legally conduct a full consultation and we hope this can be carried out as quickly as possible.“

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