Although we seem to have seen the end of the whole HS2 debate, there’s still the matter of how to distribute the money set aside for it now it won’t be going ahead in the North. It has now been announced that a new railway line between Staffordshire and Manchester Airport is the preferred option to improve connections between the West Midlands and the north, work commissioned by two mayors has provisionally concluded.
Last month Andy Street and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham unveiled three options, following the scrapping of the planned HS2 link, including improving the West Coast Main Line. A private sector group provisionally concluded a new line was likely to offer the best combination of costs and benefits.
The new railway line would run about 70 miles (112.7km) from HS2 at Handsacre in Staffordshire, to the international hub that is Manchester Airport. The other two options were significant engineering upgrades to the West Coast Main Line and building bypasses at pinch points on the line.
The private sector group, convened by the mayors and chaired by infrastructure expert Sir David Higgins, has looked at potential options and is led by engineering firm Arup with input from six other companies. More detailed work is to be done ahead of final conclusions this summer, which will also set out options for Crewe, an already buzzing train hub.
The Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham, said: “We were disappointed by the decision to cancel the northern leg of HS2 and the way it was done, but right now we are focused on delivering an alternative.”
He added it was becoming “drastically clear” the existing West Coast Mainline and the M6 would not be sufficient to cope with increasing passenger and freight volumes.
The Mayor told a Transport for the North board meeting this week that this new line would mostly be over ground which means “not much” tunnelling would be required, making it cheaper to build. He also told the board that any new line should go via Crewe, where HS2 trains were set to stop.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said it would carefully consider “initial proposals from the mayors’ study” and await the group’s full findings, as well as its proposals for securing private sector funding “that will be required to progress this”.
The news comes as the Bee Network announced the potential for Stockport to get Metrolink connections, just another step in the expansion of the London-style travel network.