• DecarbonisingTransportWeek
North West on track to benefit from faster and greener trains in next phase of HS2

North West on track to benefit from faster and greener trains in next phase of HS2

Bill to extend HS2 from Crewe to Manchester, creating a new transport spine across the North West that will reduce journey times and boost local economies.

Passengers across the North West are one step closer to faster, greener and more reliable train services as the government will today introduce the bill for the next phase of HS2.

Once approved, the High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill will allow HS2 to continue its journey from Crewe to Manchester, creating a new transport spine across the North West and boosting local economies through better connections, more capacity, improved reliability and slashed journey times.

A train on the railway tracks

Description automatically generated with medium confidence

This includes cutting travel from London to Manchester by around 55 minutes and Birmingham to Manchester by up to 45 minutes.

It is also set to bring 17,500 direct jobs to Northern communities supporting the construction of the Crewe to Manchester leg and thousands of further jobs in the supply chain expected to follow. This includes hundreds of highly skilled permanent jobs, including in rolling stock depots to be established north of Crewe, as well as in Dumfries and Galloway. 

This next phase will give the North West the tools it needs to further generate economic growth and level up across the region, with new stations supporting one of the UK’s fastest-growing cities at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.         

Part of the new high speed line will also be used for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) services between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, helping cut the Manchester Piccadilly to Liverpool journey to 35 minutes and Leeds to Liverpool to around an hour and a quarter.

The construction of HS2 to Manchester will allow capacity to double, or more, on the routes between Manchester and London to Birmingham. 

The plans are all part of the £96 billion Integrated Rail Plan – the biggest ever public investment in Britain’s rail network – and the first of 3 new high speed lines being planned, to add more seats, shorten journey times, support local services and deliver a modern, fully connected transport network fit for Manchester and the North West.

Published last year, the Integrated Rail Plan set out a list of projects that will deliver better infrastructure for the North, quicker.

HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson said: 

“We have time and time again proven our commitment to improving transport connections throughout the North and levelling up communities in the process. 

“Today marks the next chapter in achieving this; fulfilling the promises in our £96 billion Integrated Rail Plan to shorten journey times, provide reliable and sustainable services, while supporting local services and delivering a modern, fully connected transport network fit for the future even sooner.” 

HS2 Ltd also announced that it will aim to deliver a 10% net gain in biodiversity for replaceable habitats on the Crewe to Manchester route. This means going beyond existing mitigation and compensation schemes, delivering more biodiversity than existed before construction, and ensuring a bigger and better environmental legacy. 

This comes less than 2 weeks after the HS2 Minister announced that HS2 trains will run on zero carbon energy from day one aligning the country’s biggest infrastructure project with the government’s ambitions for a greener transport and construction future.

Clare Hayward MBE, DL, Chair of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, said:

“Ensuring all of Cheshire and Warrington is properly connected to the rest of the North West and the country as a whole, and delivering an integrated sustainable transport solution, is vital in ensuring our continued economic growth and delivering on our net zero ambitions.

“High speed links to the airport, and Manchester and beyond are a key part of this, providing easy access to good employment opportunities as well as ensuring our vital industries, including net zero, are easily accessible and properly joined up to important infrastructure.

Chris Fletcher, Marketing and Campaigns Director, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said:

“The additional rail capacity HS2 will deliver could allow more rail freight and contribute to the attainment of net zero goals by reducing congestion on the roads. HS2, therefore, is not merely about reducing travel times. It is an essential part of ‘levelling up’ and Greater Manchester Chamber welcomes further progress on HS2.”

End.

Green Infrastructure Week curates’ content from the entire ecosystem around green infrastructure from government and NGOs to respected commentators. 

Feel free to share this content with your social media community using #GreenInfrastructureWeek  

During Green Infrastructure Week we will host a programme of live and exclusive free-to-attend webinars. Stay in touch with event updates by registering here.