High Speed Rail Group seeks ‘Euston – Crewe core’ in HS2 vision
UK: The High Speed Rail Group has called for ‘new, affordable and realistic plan’ for HS2 including the completion of a London Euston to Crewe ‘core’.
In a submission to the Treasury ahead of the spending review, HSRG urges the government to:
- re-scope HS2 to a ‘Euston – Crewe core’, which it says would act as a key driver of the government’s economic growth ambitions, while providing additional and urgently needed national transport capacity between London, the West Midlands and the northwest;
- build the West Midlands to Crewe section, which ‘can be delivered at a much lower cost per mile than the original HS2 Phase 2a scheme’ and ‘without which HS2 will not relieve pressure on the West Coast Main Line at its biggest pinch-point’;
- fund and deliver a ‘scaled-back, cost-effective’ London Euston station with a simple functional design that can be delivered ahead of the wider regeneration ambition for the area. HSRG is advocating a six platform station, with the option for future expansion retained;
- undertake a preliminary market assessment to explore financial payback options for HS2 infrastructure investment, learning from the HS1 concession model;
- extend the safeguarding and complete outstanding land acquisition for HS2 Phase 2a between the West Midlands and Crewe.
HSRG ‘acknowledges that broader ambitions should be set aside for now’, but it believes that the government should develop a long-term vision for the national rail network to ensure that future extensions of HS2 can be accommodated at a later stage without excessive disruption.
The trade associaion said it firmly believes it remains possible to deliver HS2 in a realistic and financially responsible manner by focusing on a core route which has already obtained parliamentary powers, identifying cost saving opportunities and adopting a suitable concession model.
‘HS2 is at a crossroads’, said HSRG Chair Dyan Perry on March
