Bring on HS2… and HS3

So, Christian Wolmar wants to bring the north of England to a complete stand!

In RAIL 861, he suggests that the money being spent on HS2 would be better spent on fast electric trains connecting all the main cities of the North. But a recent news item on BBC

North West reported that Network Rail had said it would take five years to string the wires between Manchester and Leeds.

Just think what that means… five years of delays, cancellations, diversions, rail replacement bus services, and so forth. Many commuters will transfer to travel by car over the M62, which is bad enough now but which will become gridlocked. The north of England will come to a standstill as a result.

Just let us pray that work will start sooner rather than later on HS3. HS2 could terminate in a station beneath Manchester Piccadilly, and then the tracks might be projected as HS3 in a tunnel across and to the north of Manchester (possibly with a station at Victoria), then in the vicinity of the M62 turn east in a new tunnel beneath the Pennines.

In Yorkshire the new line would connect with HS2 with a Y junction - north to Leeds, south to Sheffield.

There might be two intermediate stations: the first a link with the M62 to provide a park and ride facility from Lancashire to Leeds, the second in the vicinity of the M1 to provide a park and ride facility from Yorkshire to Manchester.

Now that would be good! But the thought of five years’ engineering work via Standedge horrifies me! John Hart, Blackburn