We welcome the NIC’s latest Infrastructure Progress Review, which explicitly calls for a new long-term plan for rail to address capacity and connectivity issues on the network following the cancellation of HS2’s northern leg.
Government’s failure to implement plans for HS2 that have carefully negotiated the Parliamentary approval process is inexplicable. It will hold the country back economically, hinder growth and widen region inequality.
A coherent long term plan for rail investment, including new lines where they offer the best value for money, is needed to address capacity issues that arise both on main line railways, and on the motorways that parallel them. The direction of travel in policy terms must be to attract more car users and more road freight off our motorways and on to better, more reliable, rail services.
HSRG supports this NIC report in its view that the need for a comprehensive plan to fix our railway connections is pressing.
You can find the report in full here