Business leaders from around the North have called on the Government to deliver the HS2 line in full, saying downgrading of the plan would leave its “levelling up ambition in tatters”.
The leaders from around the North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber say that a rumoured scrapping of the eastern leg of the line would be a “massive missed opportunity to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, attract major investment and stimulate huge economic growth to create a more balanced, fairer economy. Moreover, it would leave your flagship levelling up ambition in tatters."
The Government pledged last year to deliver the HS2 plans in full but the National Infrastructure Commission later recommended scrapping the section of the line to Leeds and Sheffield to instead improve local rail services in the North.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will announce later this year whether he has accepted the Commission’s suggestions when he publishes a detailed plan for rail in the North and Midlands known as the Integrated Rail Plan.
Now a letter signed by more than 100 Northern business leaders - including the bosses of the Co-op, Drax, Manchester Airports Group and Associated British Ports - has been sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlining the importance of the Northern leg.
It has also been signed by Chambers of Commerce in the North East and Yorkshire, plus universities, business improvement districts and the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.
The letter says: "These transformational regeneration and growth opportunities do not come along very often. Major investment in infrastructure, which the North and Midlands have not seen since the Victorian era but has been delivered in London and the South East, would be the catalyst for a North as prosperous as London; the Midlands rivalling the South East for productivity and job creation.
“It is not just those towns and cities on the route. HS2 and NPR are essential to increase capacity and create better rail connections in places like the Humber, Teesside, Lincolnshire and the North East.
“As businesses, connections with our market, suppliers and exporters are very important. HS2 will link our great towns and cities in the Midlands and North contributing to local, regional and national prosperity that will be at the heart of a strong Global Britain.
“Private sector investment is crucial to realising the benefits of infrastructure. After suffering from decades of underinvestment, HS2 and regional transport plans will be the catalyst for greater flows of private investment, already coming forward but which risk being pushed back with growth cut in the construction sector.
“The Integrated Rail Plan is your chance to move on from Covid to what the future of the Ƶ should look like. Levelling up parts of the country that have seen traditional and considerable underinvestment, and that would benefit from a plan for growth.”
Earlier this month Mr Shapps said HS2 would be vital for the Ƶ.
He also revealed that he has spent 18 months working on a White Paper to incorporate the findings and recommendations of the Government-commissioned Williams Review into Britain’s railways and said he is “very keen” to release the review.
