High Speed Rail (Crewe — Manchester) Bill — 20 Jun 2022 at 21:18

“continue our programme of strategic national investments, including High Speed 2”.

“Now is the time to invest in Northern Powerhouse Rail”.

“HS2 will re-balance the country”,

“receive the best possible HS2 service”.

“Further work is needed to determine the…benefits, costs and deliverability of an alternative connection”.

“It is hugely disappointing to discover that, on a day when much political attention was focused elsewhere, the Government confirmed that the ‘Golborne Link’ is to be removed from the HS2 project.

Only six months ago, the Golborne Link was included in the Integrated Rail Plan, as well as the HS2 Phase 2b Bill. The Link has been provided for in the budget for HS2 and is needed to allow adequate capacity on the national rail network to fulfil its vital function of handling the nation’s longer distance movements of both passengers and freight. Without this connection, a bottleneck will be created north of Crewe on the West Coast Main Line, which in turn will negatively impact outcomes for passengers, decarbonisation and levelling up.”

“Such an important, strategic question of how HS2 services connect into Scotland cannot be left open or uncertain.”

“The railway is in a fight…not just competing with other forms of public and private transport but competing with Teams, Zoom and other forms of remote working. Today, many commuters who three years ago had no alternative but to travel by train have…the option of not travelling at all. Rail has lost a fifth of its passengers.”

Debate in Parliament |