Economic Growth

High Speed Rail Group back government’s decision to “level up” Britain

No major project has ever been subjected to as much scrutiny as HS2, and this is right and proper given the public money being spent. But having had leading experts analyse HS2 for the last six months, the Government has rightly concluded that going ahead with the project is essential for their vision of ‘levelling up’ Britain and delivering a transformation of regional economies across the country.

With the decision taken, the industry’s focus must now be on delivering every penny of that public investment as efficiently as possible and wringing every benefit from the project. Now the debate on whether to build HS2 has been resolved, we can focus on (more…)

By Deborah, ago

Get HS2 Done

‘Get HS2 Done’ by our High Speed Rail Group Director Jim Steer, published by the Yorkshire Post, sets out why proceeding with just the northern part of the HS2 project is not an option. The article points out the need to understand a key aspect of HS2: that it is Read more…

By Deborah, ago

HS2 North West Voices

Our report HS2 North West Voices brings together a range of influential voices in the North West, outlining the “transformational benefits” HS2 – delivered “all the way” to Glasgow – will bring to the North West economy. Two of the region’s leading Conservative and Labour MPs back the report and say HS2 will ensure the country is “firing on all cylinders”

John Stevenson MP (Conservative, Carlisle) and Lucy Powell MP (Labour, Manchester Central) say:

“HS2 is vital to fundamentally addressing the North-South divide.  With inequalities of prosperity and opportunity between the North and the South, connecting London all the way to Glasgow will ensure that every part of our country is firing on all cylinders.  HS2 will turn great cities, like Manchester and Carlisle, into inter-connected economic powerhouses, helping us to excel into the 2020s and beyond, and it will tackle the division between North and South, bringing Britain together with the first new North-South railway in a hundred years.”

You can access the full report here: HSR Industry Leaders HS2 North West Voices Report Nov 2019

The report outlines how HS2 will “turbo charge the wider Northern economy (more…)

By Deborah, ago