Partner Article

North East left out of high-speed rail plans

The North East has been left out of Network Rail’s plans for a new high-speed London to Scotland rail line.

The £34 billion line will instead run through the North West, taking in Birmingham, Manchester, Warrington, Liverpool and Preston, before reaching Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Rail journey times from London to Manchester would come down to one hour six minutes and London to Warrington times would be reduced to one hour six minutes. Preston would be reached from London in one hour 13 minutes.

Network Rail rejected a proposed route that would have taken the new line via Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne, as well as a one which included Bristol and Cardiff and another option through Leicester and Sheffield.

The announcement was greeted with disappointment in the North East. James Ramsbotham, Chief Executive of the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), said: “We are extremely disappointed at this decision and feel that Network Rail has reached the wrong conclusions. Studies have shown that to have maximum economic benefit to the UK, a high speed rail route should take in the biggest population centres and, after Manchester, those further north are all up the east coast of the country.

“There will be significant capacity problems affecting the east coast over the next few years and Network Rail must produce both short and long-term strategies to address these; high speed rail should be part of this mix.”

Colin Stratton, North East Regional Chairman for the FSB, said: “The FSB in the North East is flabbergasted by such a strange decision made by Network Rail to reject routes that include the North East. Newcastle upon Tyne is becoming a hub of activity for local, national and international businesses and not to provide a must have service to the region is another kick in the teeth to the businesses that work so hard.

“This is another sign that the North East is seen as a poor cousin who will continue to be overlooked for transport spending. This is not acceptable and the FSB will be striving to meet with Lord Adonis and outline how the 99,000 SME businesses in the region would benefit hugely from a high speed rail network.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .