DILEMMA OVER HS2 LINK
THE mayor of Liverpool fears that an extension of HS2 to the city may not be on the cards.
His fears could prove to be a silver lining for Runcorn and Widnes.
The £7 billion leg of HS2 the mayor wants from the city centre to link up with HS2 somewhere near Manchester could well have a major impact on the existing London route through Runcorn.
Would there really be separate passenger services from Liverpool, one using the existing West Coast line (via Runcorn) and the other a new HS2 line north of the river?
So here’s a much cheaper and cost effective alternative; extend HS2 from Crewe to Runcorn.
It would give Halton its biggest boost since the industrial revolution when Runcorn and Widnes became boom towns thanks to the chemical industry.
It would be done by mean converting the existing line to HS2 standard.
It would mean Runcorn being just an hour away from London, opening up the whole area to massive investment.
It would be able to give Manchester a real run for its money.
What’s more it would quickly bring HS2 into the Liverpool city region, providing a one hour 20 minute service direct from Liverpool to the capital.
Yet when I have mentioned this idea to local politicians and MPs they ● seem so disinterested with their Thomas The Tank Engine mentality.
Perhaps they are wedded to the idea of the Liverpool HS2 spur idea. Local authorities have wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds on consultants’ reports to justify a rail that will never be built.
Currently Liverpool has one train an hour to London, while Manchester has three trains an hour most of the day.
Would they really spend billions on a Liverpool link?
Maybe they ought too, but I don’t think they will.
If the HS2 promoted by the city region leaders is successful it could leave Widnes and Runcorn as backwaters, off the main track.
The best that could be hoped would be catching a train to Crewe and picking up HS2 there, or maybe a leisurely meander to London taking the old scenic route.
Why not go the whole way, and bring back nostalgic steam trains?
Around a million people a year already travel from Runcorn on the London service, and with the new restored link to Chester through Frodsham, Runcorn could become a new hub.
Could this idea happen? I don’t