UK fast- tracks plan for rail link
GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES SECOND PHASE OF HS2 WITH PROMISE OF 100,000 JOBS AND GROWTH
Britain’s government pressed ahead with a planned high- speed rail link that is opposed by many of its own lawmakers, striving to show it is committed to projects that will eventually revitalise a moribund economy.
The route for the second phase of the $ 50 billion ( Dh183 billion) HS2 rail project will run between Birmingham in central England and Leeds in the north, slashing journey times to London by almost a half, the Department for Transport ( DfT) said.
A year ago the rail plan was threatened by a backlash from rural communities and lawmakers within David Cameron’s own Conservative Party, who argue the scheme’s economic benefits will be limited.
But the government launched the next stage of the scheme yesterday, saying it would create tens of thousands of jobs, bring growth to regions outside London as well as adding capacity to an already- stretched rail network.
“It’s not just about cutting journey times, it’s also about the new stations, the prosperity that’s going to come, the jobs that are going to be created around this infrastructure,” Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told BBC TV.
“This is going to help our country over the next 15, 20 years. If we don’t take the decision now it will be left to someone else in 20 years’ time to take those tough decisions to invest in our future.”
The DfT said HS2 would create around 100,000 jobs, but the project is likely to anger rural communities through which the line will run, and their parliamentary representatives.
Cameron’s Conservatives trail the main opposition Labour Party by around 10 points ahead of elections due in May 2015, and he also faces a challenge on the right from the UK Independence Party.
“In looking at this route one knows that you are going to upset a number of people because the route will go through their area and that will be annoying for them and you’ll get opposition to it,” Britain’s Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin told BBC Radio. “But overall, one has got to look at the long term chances for the United Kingdom. This is the first railway to be built north of London for a 120 years.”
The government said a final route for phase two would be chosen by the end of 2014. Trains running on HS2 will be able to reach speeds of up to 400km/ h, the DfT said.
Construction of the LondonWest Midlands route is due to start in 2017 with work on the extension likely to kick off by 2025 to enable the line to be operational by 2033.