All the latest news and views.
London has an escalating homelessness problem, with around 3,500 rough sleepers in the capital between October and December 2018; an increase of 18% year on year. Nearly 650 homeless people have died in London over the last five years and with the life expectancy of rough sleepers around 44 years Read more…
It is our view that the GLA Conservative’s report ‘High Speed Fail: An Alternative Plan to HS2’ contains a series of flawed arguments. It perpetuates the false choice of pitting HS2 against other major projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) and Crossrail 2. The choice that has been presented Read more…
High Speed Rail Industry Leaders welcomes the launch of Midlands Engine Rail – a £3.5 billion improvement programme to transform the region’s rail network – by Sub-national Transport Body Midlands Connect. The programme emphasises the essential importance of HS2 to the future of the transport network in the region, acknowledging HS2 as the backbone of the Midlands’ future plans for east-west and north-south rail passenger and freight connectivity across the region and beyond.
Made up of seven projects spanning the East and West Midlands, the programme is strategically-important in supercharging the Midlands Engine economy and is designed to drive sustainability, productivity and social mobility across the whole region. It also includes and builds upon the flagship Midlands Rail Hub scheme; aimed at boosting east-west connectivity, which was submitted to Government in June 2019. (more…)
We write to you as members of High Speed Rail Industry Leaders and the wider rail supply chain to offer you our support in your review of HS2, and make clear that we believe the scheme offers value fr money and must be delivered in full. Without completing HS2, the Read more…
Responding to the Transport Secretary’s updated projected costs and timescales for HS2, High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL) commented: “A major infrastructure project of this nature will have its timescales and costs updated periodically, and this has not happened on HS2 since 2015. “It is welcome that this updated information Read more…
HSRIL welcome the announcement of the Oakervee Review, and look forward to it reporting on the unassailable case for HS2 Recent HSRIL report shows that HS2 is essential for bringing Britain back together Review should consider how HS2 can deliver 3 hour London-Scotland journeys in line with the Prime Minister’s Read more…
High Speed Rail Industry Leaders welcomes MP’s decision to pass the High Speed Rail (West Midlands – Crewe) Bill. This will enable the delivery of the next part of HS2, Phase 2a, which takes the scheme from Birmingham to Crewe and opens the way to the North. Phase 2a brings Read more…
Enabling works for HS2 are taking place at sites in Birmingham, Old Oak Common and Euston, showing the breadth of opportunities that the project is injecting into the economy. HS2 is now supporting some 9000 jobs across 250 sites on the first phase of the route, on a diverse range Read more…
Images have been released for the proposed rolling stock designs The bidders for the rolling stock contract are: Alstom, Bombardier/Hitachi, CAF, Siemens and Talgo The contract is worth £2.75 billion and will cover at least 54 HS2 trains A spokesman for HSRIL said: “We are pleased to see the range of impressive designs released by Read more…
Our response to speculation about the future of HS2: “High Speed 2 is the most important economic development project in Britain. It is already underway, and has already created thousands of jobs. Tens of thousands more will follow in the coming years as it integrates into the Midlands Connect and Northern Powerhouse Read more…