Forget about speed – make HS2 project’s main selling point its great connectivity

Manchester and the industrial northern cities need HS2 but the real benefit hasn’t been properly explained. A rebranding, one that says very simply what the new service is bringing, and why that matters, is in order

Manchester may be booming but its transport infrastructure certainly isn’t (iStock)

Way back when, I spent part of a summer working at a Manchester law firm. It was the year of the riots, when the courts were cleared early in case the protestors attacked the judges and law officers – it was that bad. In fact, the entire city at that time was pretty dismal. Manchester was a by-word for urban decay, evidenced by empty, crumbling red brick former office buildings across the centre, poor housing and crime. There was a grim air about the place.

If culture is a barometer, the two eponymous football clubs were suffering, and Manchester’s “Madchester” music revolution was just beginning to flourish.

Decades later, and now look. Manchester is named “one of the most exciting cities in the world” by Time Out, “the UK’s most liveable city” by The Economist, and this week, as “the best place in Britain for business outside the capital” by Management Today.