Bold plans for a high-speed rethink

No part of HS2 Phase 2b will need to be built before 2040, say the promoters of a scheme which they claim will save money and meet Transport for the North’s journey time and train frequency aims.

Network North says it has compiled a demonstrator timetable which it claims can cut journey times by an average of 40%.

Were its proposals to be adopted, Manchester Airport and Piccadilly stations would be turned into through stations, Bradford’s two stations linked with a new cross-city line, and a new hub station provided at Sheffield Victoria.

The closed ManchesterSheffield Woodhead route would be reopened as a high-speed passenger route for the network, with a parallel trans-Pennine freight railway capable of providing a rolling highway lorry shuttle.

Much of the wider network would be electrified, with ‘urban metros’ running to Blackpool South and between Bishop Auckland and Middlesbrough.

The projected costs are estimated at £39.3 billion, with benefits estimated at £143bn, although Network North acknowledges that these are scaled from HS2’s published benefits. The organisation says the high-speed spine could be delivered within ten years, and that 80% of all benefits could be delivered in a decade.

It anticipates producing a formal proposal for undertaking a performance analysis of emerging Northern Powerhouse Rail options “within a few weeks”.

■ See Haigh, pages 48-49.