Review calls for X-shaped network with south-west links

There needs to be a shift away from a sole reliance on new high-speed line infrastructure to deliver capacity and connectivity needs in northern England and the Midlands.

That is the claim of Greengauge 21, in its detailed review of the National Infrastructure Commission’s Rail Needs report from last December ( RAIL 921).

It has called for an adaptation of the north eastern arm of

HS2 to serve all the major cities east of the Peak District and Pennines, plus the development of an ‘X’-shaped HS2 network by adding a south-western leg with existing lines from Birmingham to the South West and South Wales (electrified and building on what would be the first stage of the NE arm, which is expected to be a Birmingham-Nottingham link).

Greengauge 21 Director Jim Steer said that capacity and connectivity can be delivered better and sooner with a careful blend of electrification and upgrading of existing lines.

“The aim should be a step change in the links between the cities to the east of the Pennines and Peak District which the current HS2 proposals do not achieve at all well,” said Steer.

“A key aspect of this shift is overcoming the problems of current HS2 designs in city centres, which generally preclude HS2 services being extended onwards over existing lines.

“Our report sets out how this can be achieved in Birmingham to create the ‘X’ as well as to allow onward connections to Bradford from Leeds city centre.

“The suggested approach delivers HS2 connectivity to Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield, and excitingly shows how Nottingham’s existing city centre station can in effect be placed on HS2 and a new, faster cross-country route, with benefits spread right across the country.

“Best of all, we show how a two-stage approach to HS2 on the east side of the country can deliver, first a transformation in east-west connectivity across the Midlands, and second connectivity gains for all of Yorkshire/Humber, the North East and Scotland.”

Steer claimed critics were wrong to claim that HS2 was about cutting journey times to/from London.

“What this report shows is how the Government’s and NIC’s primary aim of ‘levelling up’ can be met and how the same scale of investment, properly specified, can be used to create more capacity for railfreight and allow surface rail to compete effectively with short-haul domestic flights - both essential steps to decarbonising the transport sector,” he said.