The Government may think they’ve won the fight on HS2.
But HS2 is now reduced to a single route connecting London to the West Midlands – and the real battleground has moved on.
The fight is now to ensure that the people of the UK get the hugely-enhanced and better-connected railway network that the Government has promised in its latest Northern Growth Strategy.
This is exactly what High Speed UK and its regional Network North and Midland Ring projects are designed to achieve.
The HSUK strategy is to:
- Build new trunk high speed lines where they’re needed.
- Upgrade existing main lines where necessary and link these to the new high speed lines.
- Restore abandoned lines to fill in gaps in the network.
- Develop improved hub stations in all major cities.
- Achieve all of this at minimised cost, CO2 emissions and environmental impact.
- Ensure all these lines and stations work together as a single integrated national network.
- Make sure HSUK works for every UK region and nation.
The Government claim that they understand the need for a better network. After all, when the previous Government gave HS2 the go-ahead in 2020, they also started developing an ‘Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands and the North’ – which has now morphed into the present Government’s Northern Growth Strategy.
But HS2 has been designed with no thought for integration or network - so any Integrated Rail Plan or Northern Growth Strategy based on HS2 must surely fail.
The Government must provide the responses necessary to demonstrate that a Northern Growth Strategy based on HS2 will deliver the transformed national network that the nation needs, and meet all the Government’s pledges on Levelling up, CO2 reductions etc.
If they can do so, then we will gladly withdraw our concerns, and apologise to anyone we might have offended. But if they cannot, then they must immediately abandon the failed HS2 scheme that will never deliver the network that the people of the UK need and deserve. Instead, they must seek an alternative scheme that actually works. Our contact details are on the website – just give us a call!!
The Northern Growth Strategy – just repeating the problems of HS2
Regrettably, the Government never set any technical targets for the Integrated Rail Plan or for the Northern Growth Strategy – for instance which cities should be connected, or what the journey times should be. All they’ve done is to stipulate that the Integrated Rail Plan should create an ‘integrated network’, and should be based upon HS2, and upon major schemes (such as Northern Powerhouse Rail the Midlands – North-West Rail Link and Midlands Rail Hub) that are also based on HS2.
These dependencies set up a self-evident problem. How can an integrated network be developed from HS2, which was designed with no thought for integration?
This clear mistake, and many other HS2 deficiencies, are replicated and magnified in the Integrated Rail Plan and in the Northern Growth Strategy.
And if the Northern Growth Strategy fails, so do the Government’s agendas for:
Clearly, it’s vital for everyone that the Government’s Northern Growth Strategy and its Integrated Rail Plan enable the development of the best possible network.
So, to assist the Government in this undertaking…
We’ve developed 7 key principles for how the Integrated Rail Plan should perform.
We’ve assessed the performance of Integrated Rail Plans based on HS2 and
HSUK against this specification in the Midlands, the North and for links to
Scotland and Northern Ireland.
These assessments demonstrate conclusively the hugely sub optimal performance of any Integrated Rail Plan and Northern Growth Strategy based upon HS2.
These assessments also demonstrate the imperative for a holistic programme of railway network development that will actually succeed in connecting the nation.
Our Challenge to the Government …
HSUK’s comprehensively superior performance as a national railway network raises 7 massive questions as to the competence and the integrity of the processes by which the Government’s UK high speed rail initiative (i.e. HS2 and its subidiary schemes i.e. Northern Powerhouse Rail, Midlands–North-West Rail Link, Midlands Rail Hub etc) has developed so far.
Why do the Government’s proposals for HS2 and its subsidiary schemes…
1. Fail to fully interconnect the UK’s principal cities?
2. Offer such meagre journey time reductions?
3. Perform so poorly as a national network?
4. Fail to meet the original specification for journey times between Northern Powerhouse cities?
5. Do so little to transform direct links between Midlands cities?
6. Fail to offer meaningful reductions in transport CO2 emissions, as required by the 2008 Climate Change Act?
7. Cause such needless damage to communities and environment?
Our Challenge to the Government is simple.
Please explain how HS2 and its subsidiary schemes (Northern Powerhouse Rail, Midlands–North-West Rail Link, Midlands Rail Hub etc) will deliver the best railway network for the people of the UK.
Please explain why those charged with developing HS2 and its subsidiary schemes have consistently rejected the superior-performing HSUK, and appear to lack any competence in designing a railway network.
Our Challenge to the people of the UK is even simpler.
The United Kingdom deserves the best possible railway system, delivering the greatest possible connectivity and capacity for the least possible cost and environmental impact. It’s the Government’s responsibility to deliver this.
Please hold your Government to account.
For further information please consult:
Our network in crisis – links to key HSUK reports.
The HSUK Challenge.
Our extensive Document Library.
Our latest short presentation.
Our latest longer presentation.
“HS2 modelling is shocking, biased and bonkers.”
Margaret Hodge, Chair, Public Accounts Committee
“No economic case for HS2... it will destroy jobs and force businesses to close.”
Institute of Economic Affairs
High Speed UK - Connecting the Nation
We’ve written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and
to the Metro Mayors of the North and the Midlands
to set out our detailed concerns.
Back in 2021 we told PM Boris Johnson that only an Integrated Rail Plan
based on our own High Speed UK proposals could possibly
deliver the optimised network that the nation needs.
We’ve challenged the Prime Minister to seek answers to 7 key questions
for which any competent and professional transport advisor
should be able to provide adequate responses.
SEE HSUK /IRP
COMPARISONS
Click on the map for a larger scale plan of HSUK National Network
