New rail line to North is still best option – report

Study comes in wake of scrapped HS2 leg to Manchester

ABRAND new railway line between the West Midlands and North West has been identified as the best way to improve transport links between the two regions. A study commissioned to examine ways to improve rail connections between the regions has provisionally concluded a new line between Handsacre in Staffordshire and High Legh near Manchester Airport is the preferred option.

The study comes in the wake of last year’s decision by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to scrap the second phase of high-speed railway line HS2 which would have connected Birmingham with Crewe and Manchester and Birmingham with the East Midlands.

As a result, trains using phase one of HS2, which is currently under construction between London, Solihull and Birmingham, will join the existing West Coast Main Line in Handsacre, north of Lichfield.

In the north, the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail work will see improvements on services west to east between Liverpool, Manchester and Yorkshire, meaning attention has been focussed on the northsouth section in between the two regions. In recent months, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and his Greater Manchester counterpart Andy Burnham have been working in a coalition with private sector partners on fresh proposals following that decision to scrap phase two of HS2.

They examined three different options: carry out significant engineering upgrades to the West Coast Main Line, build bypasses at key pinch points on this line or build an entirely new railway line. It is this third option that the working group has decided is the best to carry forward and which has now been shared with the Department for Transport. The proposed new line would span 70 miles between the end of HS2 at Handsacre and Northern Powerhouse Rail at High Legh around ten miles west of Manchester Airport.

The two mayors came together in Birmingham last month for a media conference in which they outlined the three options and warned that doing nothing was simply not an option.

However, they stressed this was not a bid to resurrect the nowscrapped section of HS2 and the new line would not run at the same high speeds offered by HS2.

The coalition examining the proposals is led by global engineering firm Arup with input from Arcadis, Addleshaw Goddard, EY, Dragados, Mace and Skanska and chaired by former HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins.

They have also been exploring the different roles the private sector could play in the financing and delivery, drawing inspiration from France where private money has been used for big public transport schemes such as the country’s TGV rail line.

Work previously undertaken as part of planning phase two of HS2 could now be utilised to provide efficiencies in delivery timescales and reduce risk, something which is expected to improve the odds of attracting private-sector involvement. More work will now be conducted ahead of final conclusions being published in the summer.

Raj Kandola, director of external affairs at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said the business body was “bitterly disappointed” by the decision to axe phase two of HS2.

“We welcome the proactive approach undertaken by the mayors to try and find a workable alternative,” he said. “In particular, it’s great to see a coalition of public and private-sector partners trying to address a critical issue which is holding back growth across our region and beyond, namely congestion on the M6 and West Coast Line Mainline and the impact that has on the movement of people and goods.

“We would urge the Government to keep all options on the table and offer careful consideration to the recommendations made in this proposal.

“Clearly, if the Government is serious in its intentions to level up the country, then offering better connectivity between the great cities of the UK outside of London needs to figure highly in any worthwhile plan for growth.”

We would urge the Government to keep all options on the table Raj Kandola, director of external affairs at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce