Campaigners say HS2 will create thousands of jobs
Chris Oglesby
TRANSFORMING rail services across the North could boost the region’s economy by £1trillion, campaigners claim.
Going ahead with the HS2 high-speed rail link and connecting big towns and cities could revive other industries and create tens of thousands of jobs they insisted yesterday.
The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a thinktank of civic and business leaders, spoke out passionately for HS2 as fears grew the £56billion project could be cut back or axed.
Chris Oglesby, who sits on the Northern Powerhouse Independent Review into HS2, said: “HS2 will be transformational.
“It delivers massive economic benefits by increasing capacity and speed, both between our cities and into them on new and existing lines. It will drive regeneration in our cities and towns,”
Today’s NPP report calls for a new body to link the high-speed line with Northern Powerhouse Rail, a separate project connecting Leeds, Liverpool, RAMMED Travellers board train in Bolton Hull, Manchester and Sheffield. NPP says the “potential prize for the North equates to £1,000billion (£1trillion) between 2035 and 2050.”
The London to Birmingham section of HS2 is due to open in 2026. The extension to Leeds and Manchester should be completed in 2033. In Leeds, HS2 will create 50,000 jobs, the NPP report says. In Manchester, by 2050 HS2 will create 60,000 jobs and in Liverpool it will create 24,000.
Mr Oglesby added: “Only by delivering an integrated high-speed network across the North can a Northern Powerhouse vision be truly realised. Further delays are hugely damaging.”
HS2 supporters fear Boris Johnson will axe the scheme after he repeatedly failed to give it his full-throated backing during the Tory leadership race.
The Government has announced its own review of HS2 led by Douglas Oakervee amid spiralling costs.
The Department for Transport said it “will provide clear advice on how and whether the project should proceed.” CHRIS OGLESBY FROM NORTHERN POWERHOUSE
Only an integrated network can deliver our vision