On 30^th November, the Government announced that HS2 would be extended to Crewe six years earlier than originally intended. The initial plan was for HS2 to open in two stages: Phase 1, London – Birmingham to be completed by 2026 and Phase 2, Birmingham – Manchester/Leeds (the ‘Y’) by 2033.

The revised plan is for the first section of Phase 2, from Birmingham to Crewe, (Phase 2A), to open one year after Phase 1 in 2027. The remainder of the Y to Manchester and Leeds (Phase 2B) will open in 2033 as previously planned.

Details

On the opening of Phase 1 in 2026, an HS2 passenger service will be introduced between London and Birmingham using dedicated ‘captive’ trains.

‘Classic compatible’ services (HS2 trains capable of travelling on the conventional rail network) will be introduced between London and the North West and Scotland. These trains will travel at the HS2 linespeed of 360km/hr (230mph) as far as Lichfield, north of Birmingham, where they will switch to the classic West Coast Main Line (WCML) and proceed at conventional speeds to Crewe, Liverpool, Manchester and on to Scotland. This will mean a major reduction in journey times to all cities on the network.

Phase 2A, opening one year later in 2027, will extend the high speed line from Lichfield as far as a new junction with the WCML south of Crewe – a distance of 58 kilometres (36 miles). The effect of this new section of high speed line will be another major reduction in journey time to the North West and Scotland.

The current proposal is for Crewe to be served by classic compatible units that will travel on to Liverpool and Warrington. However, the proposed ‘Crewe Hub’ will introduce a new station on the HS2 line interchanging with a relocated Crewe station – possibly at Basford Hall, south of the town. A decision on this proposal has yet to be made but is expected shortly.

Phase 2B, opening in 2033, will extend the HS2 line north east from Crewe to Manchester via Manchester Airport and construct the ‘eastern arm’ to Leeds via Sheffield and Toton. At this stage, both Manchester and Leeds will be served by dedicated HS2 ‘captive’ trains. Liverpool and destinations further north will continue to be served by classic compatible units.

What this means for Liverpool

Phase 1 will have a major impact on journey times from Liverpool to London. The present average of 134 minutes will be slashed to 106 minutes. Phase 2A will reduce journey time further – to 92 minutes. This can only be a good thing for the city and city region and so the decision to bring forward HS2 to Crewe is to be welcomed.

Phase 2B, by contrast, will offer no journey time improvements to Liverpool but, by introducing dedicated high speed captive services to Manchester and Leeds, will markedly reduce London journey times from both cities. So, Liverpool will find that its main commercial rival, Manchester will be 25 minutes closer to the capital despite enjoying near parity today. Both Manchester and Leeds will also enjoy new high speed services to Birmingham that the lack of a direct link will deny Liverpool.

As classic compatible trains will be only 200m long, as opposed to the 400m maximum length of captive trains, there will not be a major increase in passenger capacity on the London route. In fact, should Merseytravel’s aspiration of two hourly 260m long Pendolino trains to London be realised, capacity will actually be reduced on the introduction of HS2!

Far from increasing the rail connectivity of Liverpool, the routing of the proposed Phase 2B western arm will not relieve currently congested stretches of track such as between Crewe and Weaver Junction and on the approaches to Lime Street. This will hinder the development of new passenger services from Liverpool and rail freight access to the new Liverpool Superport.

The Solution

The Northern Powerhouse initiative, which seeks to improve connectivity between the major cities of the North has recognised that a new high speed link from Liverpool to Manchester will be important in improving future travel between the two cities as existing lines will not deliver this aspiration.

Such a route, by incorporating sections of the proposed HS2 Manchester branch will be achievable at low cost and with minimal environmental intrusion.

We at 20 Miles More believe that the only solution is the construction of a dedicated high speed link from Liverpool to HS2. This link will not only give Liverpool a link to London comparable to that enjoyed by other core cities but will also form the first stage of a new trans-North Northern Powerhouse rail link. In so doing, it will ensure that HS2 achieves the government’s intention of rebalancing the economy of the country.

50 Liverpool business leaders and the Vice Chancellors of the City Region’s four Universities are today calling on the leaders of the three main political parties to commit to ensuring the city gets a direct High Speed Rail link as a matter of urgency.

Currently neither the HS2 project nor the emerging Transport for the North vision for an East / West HS3 make any commitment to deliver a High Speed rail line into Liverpool.

The Open Letter has been co-ordinated by the independent, business-led 20 Miles More campaign and is signed by leading companies in the freight, professional service, life science, tourism, retail and creative industries sectors along with Universities and major business organisations including the North West Business Leadership Team, FSB, Professional Liverpool, Liverpool BID Company and Downtown Liverpool in Business.

20 Miles More Chairman Andrew Morris commented;

“These are the businesses and institutions that are forging our future economy. The range of signatures demonstrates the breadth of support for a direct High Speed link to the city and how vitally important this is to our future prosperity and success. Liverpool’s economy has always been based on connectivity and pioneering infrastructure. With the massive investment in the new Post-Panamax port facility we desperately need additional rail capacity and better connectivity in order to handle the projected massive growth in freight.”

20 Miles More believes it’s important that the business and economic case is heard and that the political parties are challenged during the election about their commitment to the city and this vital piece of economic investment. Whereas all the parties have been underlining their commitment to economic re-balancing and releasing the potential of Northern cities the issue has not yet surfaced in the General Election campaign

Geoffrey Piper, Chief Executive from the North West Business Leadership Team, is one of many leading business voices backing the campaign. He commented:

“We are strongly committed to the idea of a Northern Powerhouse, but we believe it’s logical for this vision to start here. A high speed rail link from Liverpool to Manchester would not only connect us to HS2 but would be the first leg of a transformational HS3 East / West link as well. If we want the Northern Powerhouse to deliver quickly then we should start by connecting the cities with the strongest economic synergies and highest number of passenger journeys.”

The Open Letter comes ahead of the publication of a major report by the think-tank ResPublica setting out the strategic case for a Liverpool High Speed link. The report commissioned by The Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson is likely to include a radical game-changing proposal to underscore Liverpool’s HS2 case. ResPublica Director, Phillip Blond explained:

“Our report provides a comprehensive review of the City Region economy and how it can best realise growth opportunities and potential. As a result we conclude that the case for a direct High Speed line into Liverpool is even more compelling and beneficial to the UK economy.”

The open letter and the High Speed appeal have also been welcomed by Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson. He commented:

“I welcome the Open Letter from 20 Miles More and the business community. It is a timely intervention aimed at ensuring the interests and aspirations of the city are heard during this critically important election campaign.”

To view the Open Letter click here

As the last day of MIPIM in Cannes starts on an “Investing in the Northern Powerhouse” note, the north’s five major cities stand together on the brink of a potentially momentous government investment.

Times look like they could be set to change dramatically for connectivity in the northern regions as Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle late last year launched their One North plan.

Under the TransNorth connectivity plan, Liverpool in the west would be connected to the north, south and east by fast and efficient transport, making the Newcastle of tomorrow what second-city Birmingham is to us today, while – should it be given the green light – you can expect to see many more Sheffielders around our city in the years to come. You can also say goodbye to Pacers and traffic jams, and hello to new, revitalised and upgraded city region transport networks that are an asset to businesses from Chester to Barnsley and everywhere inbetween.

With HS2 (the government’s railway into London) being launched to much fanfare about “speed” and luxury, to us in the north it was inevitable that people would soon start making the comparison between the time it takes to get to London today (2 hours, give or take) with the sluggish time it takes to get to Newcastle (following recent improvements, 3 hours), and the decrepit nature of many local trains. The “One North” report is the culmination of the collective public irritation that appears to have struck a chord with local political leaders across the region, and subsequently with a government waking up to the reality that perhaps Adonis’ HS2 as initially sketched didn’t quite cut the mustard for many.

While some might might ask if it was an error not to prioritise these connections in the first place, the main thing that will matter to people in the north is that they do so now.

One North isn’t just an east-west railway line but instead a whole package of infrastructure improvements from the east coast to here in the west, ranging from ports being enabled to help ramp up exports and lower the cost of imports, through to new road interventions, and money ploughed into creating, upgrading and expanding local transport networks. As a major city with a growing SuperPort, and the truly excellent but not-quite-finished Merseyrail network that is yet to reach the city’s airport and eastern suburbs, this really could be something exciting, where – finally – Liverpool gets properly tooled up to perform at its A-game.

Liverpool, as we know, is already a pretty impressive city. So too are Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle. And a light bulb seems to have gone on, somewhere, about this string of pearls lacking just a bit of shine and a thread.

From 20 Miles More perspective of course the prime excitement comes from the prospect of hooking Liverpool up to the High Speed rail network through an enhanced connection, meaning more faster trains to more destinations – that connectivity meaning business and jobs. Although this isn’t to say that the other aspects on offer are any less exciting or impactful. It is clear from the One North report that both national and local connectivity need to be delivered together to reap maximum results..

Undoubtedly there’ll be some in the city raising an eyebrow at the government’s formation of “Transport for the North”. The city’s businesses and people alike will certainly want to ensure that Liverpool’s interests are promoted and protected, with Merseytravel always having equal and fair access to resources to carry out their proposals, and true local determination as to what those priorities are (such as our city needing better connections to, and around, our wider area including North Wales). That is devolution, after all.

As to the prize, all of the north’s major cities currently have economic output below the norm, yet even so today collectively form one of Europe’s largest economies. Just taking the north-west’s Greater Manchester and wider Liverpool City Region, combined they each contribute half towards a £100bn in economic output pumped into the UK economy each year. What can we achieve when we enable each other to outperform?

For investors buying into the northern region right now, this represents a strong potential for growth from north to south and east to west. And this is no academic exercise; at the heart of the story behind the north’s present day economic output lie areas – in each and every city – where there is much need for jobs, investment and, fundamentally, for the people born there to have good things to realistically aim for in life. We’ve every incentive to be as invested in this venture emotionally as any business investor has monetarily.

This ambitious plan is a work in progress at this very moment, with the cities working with the government aiming for a March reveal. Word is that they’re not quite there yet with an apparent gap between the government’s “Northern Powerhouse” catchphrases and what it will actually commit to delivering. They will surely get there in the end: These investments aren’t just important to the northern cities, but with economic uplift estimates ranging from £67bn to £130bn (depending on how far the investments go) they’re truly valuable to the whole of the UK.

At the close of MIPIM Cannes 2015 it’s appropriate to talk about this, there being a clear and direct correlation between the government investing for success in our cities and businesses doing likewise. For a chancellor keen to see receipts go up and structural outgoings go down, the low billions asked for seem more like a bargain.

20 Miles more, who kick-started Liverpool’s bid for a High Speed rail link, has expressed its concern about the implications of the announcement by Government and HS2 Chair, Sir David Higgins, which sees the city still omitted from the proposed HS2 route in the Rebalancing Britain report.

20 Miles More believes that connecting Liverpool and Manchester under HS2 would then create the obvious starting point for any HS3 proposals to join up the major Northern cities on an East-West line.

Andrew Morris, chair of the business-led 20 Miles More group, explained:

“We were not entirely surprised that there were no new announcements about a potential HS2 link to Liverpool in the announcement. But the proposals for a so-called HS3 East – West link are frankly disappointing. We very much agree with the view expressed by Liverpool Mayor, Joe Anderson that the idea that Liverpool might not even be part of this investment would be shocking and illogical.”

20 Miles More are due to publish their own report advocating a comprehensive HS3 line starting with a connection between Liverpool and Manchester. Martin Sloman, who co-authored the report with Gareth Parr, commented:

“In terms of existing passenger demand, proximity and economic links it’s a bit of a no-brainer. Liverpool and Manchester are already beginning to function as an embryonic super-city. In terms of population and international connections, via port and airport, they have the critical mass and potential to become a counterweight to London. If HS3 is about re-balancing the UK economy then Liverpool should be vital and not peripheral. Today’s announcement is in danger of unbalancing our regional economies and consolidating prosperity and investment within a narrow spine rather than across the full breadth of the north.”

20 Miles More have pledged to redouble their own campaigning efforts and build the widest possible coalition behind the call for a direct High Speed link to Liverpool.

“We started this campaign with a very simple call for 20 miles of additional track to take HS2 to the UK’s western gateway and one of its fastest growing city economies. That call is now stronger than ever. That link needs to be considered as a next stage of HS2, and not simply an element of HS3 which, at the moment is nothing more than an uncosted aspiration.

`Those 20 miles would then provide the impetus for HS3 and stimulate the creation of a Northern Powerhouse at precisely the point where that potential already exists.”

Click here to see the Rebalancing Britain report