Manchester mayor Andy Burnham says North faces ‘Armageddon’ without HS2 rail links
‘We would end up with a worse train service than we’ve currently got’, says Andy Burnham
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The mayor of Greater Manchester has warned of slower trains and “Armageddon” in the North if the government terminates the HS2 line at Birmingham.
In 2023, Rishi Sunak controversially announced a scaled-back plan for HS2 from original promises to extend the line between the West Midlands and Manchester and improve regional transport links.
The former Conservative government’s choice to scrap the Manchester link was confirmed by the new Labour government in the July King’s Speech: “We are not reversing the decision to cancel the second phase of HS2.”
Speaking at a fringe event of the Labour Party Conference, mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “The danger is doing nothing. Because if HS2 trains start rolling north through Birmingham and on to the West Coast Main Line we are looking at Armageddon,” report The Telegraph.
Beyond Birmingham, Mr Burnham said stations are “not set up to deal with those trains” and predicted a “worse train service” than existing lines in the North.
According to a report by Transport for the North, without an alternative route, the existing rail infrastructure in the North, including the West Coast Main Line (WCML), would reach maximum capacity and “collapse”.
If HS2 joins two sets of train carriages together to boost capacity as planned, not all stations on the line can accommodate the longer trains, which will also have to reduce speed as they join the WCML tracks.
The mayor called for Sir Keir Starmer to “join these dots” between Birmingham and Manchester – the UK’s second and third largest cities – within the next 10 years using a cheaper version of the original proposal.
Earlier this month, a proposal by Mr Burnham and consultancy firm Arup for a slower 50-mile Midlands-Northwest Rail Link at the northern end of HS2 was announced.
The “lower-cost alternative” between Staffordshire and Cheshire, which would connect with the east-west Northern Powerhouse Rail, was described as a “golden opportunity” by former HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins.
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