Beyond HS2 report aspires to “a fully national network”
MAJOR upgrades of existing main lines, the construction of new railways, and reinvigoration of the freight market form part of a national rail strategy launched by Greengauge 21 on May 29.
The transport think tank spent ten months working on the project
Beyond HS2. It describes it as the “most long-term and strategic view of what our national railway network should look like by the middle of the century”.
Greengauge 21 Director Jim Steer, one of five co-authors, said: “Britain lacks a long-term national railway strategy beyond HS2. We need a plan to put rocket fuel into our economic productivity, and
today’s report sets out proposals to do so.”
Beyond HS2 acknowledges that while it is only looking as far as 2040, the National Infrastructure Commission is looking further ahead to 2050. The report states: “The NIC will find, as we did, there is a shortage of longer-term plans for rail, comprising only one or two well-known mega-projects and no overall strategy.”
The report highlights that the output per worker employed in the UK, calculated on a current Gross Domestic Product per hour worked basis, scores below most of the country’s major international competitors - 10.5% lower than Italy, 22.8% lower than France and 26.2% lower than France.
Speaking to RAIL on May 29, Steer said: “The country is pretty London-centric. Businesses will say London is pricy, but it is the biggest labour market in Europe and the connections are there.” He said other cities in the UK similarly needed commuter networks.
New high-speed lines have been recommended for Scotland (to allow journey times of 3hrs 15mins to London), and for Essex and East Anglia (from the capital to Stansted/towards Cambridge and Colchester, that would release capacity on the Great Eastern and West Anglia Main Lines, as well as allowing a 15-minute journey time between the capital and Stansted Airport). A high-speed link from Warrington to Liverpool is also recommended, although this would not form part of HS2.
Steer said it was vital that no region was left behind, with a strategy reaching all parts of the UK. It is about improving productivity across the whole nation, but to do that requires transformation of the connectivity currently available between cities.
“Fundamentally, we need to completely re-orientate the railway from a ‘hub-and-spoke’ centred on London to a fully national network,” he said.
This national railway network would link to a set of upgraded city centre ‘hub stations’. Under these plans, HS2 would be turned from a ‘Y’ into an ‘X’-shaped railway, thanks to a new connection in the West Midlands enabling HS2 trains to run to Bristol and Cardiff. These could then continue to the South West.
The Beyond HS2 report says that, for the first time, there should be a rail strategy with a specific objective - transforming national productivity. To achieve this, the report calls for: ■ East West connections in the North to be transformed (thus bringing the major cities together). ■ A new rail connection linking Kent and Essex, and provision of a rail freight version of the M25 that would free space on the North London Line. ■ A series of new and improved city region rail networks to support city-based growth. ■ New direct rail services from across the UK to Heathrow, to support its national hub airport status. Creating a similar hub at Manchester Airport could allow new services from Sheffield and Chester/North Wales, using a new rail connection.
Currently, major investment on the national network is carried out via five-year Network Rail Control Periods, but Steer said: “We have lost the five-year plan for enhancements and that’s not good, but we have kept it for operations. It’s not the right planning horizon - it has to be longer.”
The report states: “The need for a five-year delivery plan set in the context of a longer-term strategy for rail has never been more palpable. The absence of both strategy and plan puts at risk local, regional and national ambitions: it carries economic cost.”
Funding isn’t mentioned, with Steer saying: “There needs to be some digestion of the report. The next stage is looking at the questions. A long-term programme would help the supply chain.”