Underground and overground options mooted for HS2 station

A ROW over whether the North’s biggest city should have a multibillion pound underground station to accommodate high-speed rail remains unresolved despite a leading industry expert being called into settle the dispute, The Yorkshire Post has learned.

Richard George was commissioned to carry out an inquiry into whether an underground station costing £6bn or a surface station at a fraction of the cost would be the best option for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) trains at Manchester Piccadilly station.

But Mr George, who was recently appointed to lead the public-sector operator in charge of Northern rail services, concluded in a report that both options should be included in the upcoming review of how high speed rail should work in the North.

And he said the city’s “existing inadequate railway infrastructure” would eventually struggle to cope with the proposed high speed rail schemes as well as the upgrade of the trans-Pennine route connecting Manchester with Leeds and York.

Strategic body Transport for the North and Greater Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham have been at odds over the Piccadilly scheme, with the row prompting another northern metro mayor, Ben Houchen of the Tees Valley, to criticise the amount of attention Manchester gets at the expense of other cities.

The confidential report says: “Once the station configuration is finally decided and committed – I believe it is essential that all parties work together to support that decision regardless of their current position. The change in governance arrangements may help to re-set some currently strained relationships.”

The dispute over how high speed rail should arrive in Manchester had threatened to delay the legislation for phase 2b of HS2, the controversial scheme connecting London with Yorkshire,

being deposited in the Commons.

But it will now be considered as part of the High Speed North review commissioned by the Government after Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally gave HS2 the green light last month.

The Yorkshire Post revealed in August that Mr Burnham had refused to support plans for the £39bn NPR scheme connecting the great cities of the North because it includes a surface extension to Piccadilly station rather than an underground station.

Transport for the North, which is submitting the plans to the Government, says a six-platform, 400 metre station above ground that can accommodate NPR and HS2 would deliver the same benefits as an underground site for a fraction of the cost.

Mr George, Director of Transport for the 2012 London Olympics, was called in to carry out an independent review into the best way forward. The rail consultant wrote that if the idea of an aboveground station at Manchester Piccadilly for HS2 was ‘fixed’ then a combined surface-level station for the two schemes was “the logical and cost-effective way forward”.

The report said a surface station accommodating NPR would cost £2.5bn more than an HS2only option, including £1.6bn because of the cost of re-routing the line via the village of Diggle, near Oldham. But a four-platform underground station would cost as much as £10bn more, including the re-routing costs.

Mr George said another option was to have both HS2 and NPR stations underground, which would require a complete overhaul of the funding available as well as the legislation for the 250mph line connecting London with Leeds and Manchester.

Once it is decided it is essential that all parties work together.

Transport expert Richard George.