Because of COVID-19, our economy is experiencing an unprecedented shift. Core Cities has drafted a paper which is forming the basis of their discussions with Government on recovery. Recognising that we must do all we can to protect business and jobs, but understanding that business as usual will not return Read more…
The High Speed Rail Group welcome today’s announcement that the Government has issued the formal “Notice to Proceed” (NTP) to allow the construction of HS2 to commence. Following the news, an army of women and men will now set about the task of building Britain’s new north-south railway line with Read more…
No major project has ever been subjected to as much scrutiny as HS2, and this is right and proper given the public money being spent. But having had leading experts analyse HS2 for the last six months, the Government has rightly concluded that going ahead with the project is essential for their vision of ‘levelling up’ Britain and delivering a transformation of regional economies across the country.
With the decision taken, the industry’s focus must now be on delivering every penny of that public investment as efficiently as possible and wringing every benefit from the project. Now the debate on whether to build HS2 has been resolved, we can focus on (more…)
Following the leaking of the Oakervee Review into HS2 to the Financial Times newspaper, we welcome its conclusions and published a letter to the Prime Minister urging him to “get HS2 done” and make an immediate decision to proceed with the project in line with the findings of the government-commissioned Read more…
2019 was a critical one for HS2. There has been increased scrutiny of the project, culminating in the Government’s announcement of the Oakervee Review at the end of August, which dominated our end of year activity. Here we set out a year view of the variety of activities we have Read more…
HS2 Phase 2a’s inclusion in the Queen’s Speech is good news, and shows that we can make progress on getting HS2’s benefits to the North and smashing the north-south divide. We must now press on, get HS2 built and bring the connectivity, capacity and jobs that benefit the country. Our Read more…
Our members recognise the significant opportunities for industry that the development of high speed rail in Britain can provide. The HS2 project comes at a time when investment in the country is vital in the wake of the Brexit vote. High speed rail has the capability to bring efficiency gains Read more…
Our report HS2 North West Voices brings together a range of influential voices in the North West, outlining the “transformational benefits” HS2 – delivered “all the way” to Glasgow – will bring to the North West economy. Two of the region’s leading Conservative and Labour MPs back the report and say HS2 will ensure the country is “firing on all cylinders”
John Stevenson MP (Conservative, Carlisle) and Lucy Powell MP (Labour, Manchester Central) say:
“HS2 is vital to fundamentally addressing the North-South divide. With inequalities of prosperity and opportunity between the North and the South, connecting London all the way to Glasgow will ensure that every part of our country is firing on all cylinders. HS2 will turn great cities, like Manchester and Carlisle, into inter-connected economic powerhouses, helping us to excel into the 2020s and beyond, and it will tackle the division between North and South, bringing Britain together with the first new North-South railway in a hundred years.”
You can access the full report here: HSR Industry Leaders HS2 North West Voices Report Nov 2019
The report outlines how HS2 will “turbo charge the wider Northern economy (more…)
We welcome the new research from Midlands Connect, which shows that 73 stations on the existing rail network stand to benefit from improved passenger services as a direct result of the capacity released by HS2. Amongst the biggest winners from HS2 are the smaller towns and cities identified by today’s 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…