In fact, HS2 will release capacity on existing lines for MORE services.

Centro chief executive Geoff Inskip responded in a letter to the editor:

Dear Sir 

Following Saturday’s (May 18) story about high speed rail I’d like to reassure Express & Star readers that HS2 will , in fact, make a real difference to the West Midlands and deliver much needed capacity on our railway allowing  us to run many more services on existing lines. 

Centred on the West Midlands, HS2 will connect eight of our ten major cities slashing journey times between our region and London,  the North West,  east Midlands and Yorkshire, making the West Midlands much better connected.

HS2 will release capacity on our existing lines allowing us to run more passenger and freight services.

At Centro we have devised a  timetable which would use this capacity to increase services between Wolverhampton and Birmingham Airport and introduce a London service from Walsall,  for example.

With rail use continuing to grow – we’ve seen passenger levels double in a decade in the West Midlands – therefore this extra  capacity that HS2 will deliver is vital.

Our economic research reveals the London-Birmingham first phase of high speed rail alone will bring 22000 jobs and £1.5bn per year to our region.

We can’t afford not to build HS2.

Yours etc

Geoff Inskip

Capacity is too important to ignore

Transport leader Geoff Inskip said building HS2 was essential to meet booming demand on UK railways and bring jobs and investment to the West Midlands.

Mr Inskip,  chief executive of regional transport authority Centro, spoke following the findings of the National Audit Office report on HS2 – HS2: A Review of Early Programme Preparation

Mr Inskip said: “We are running out of rail capacity and that is why HS2 is so important to our economy. High speed rail will bring fast, direct services connecting eight of our ten largest cities, but it will also release capacity for more services on our increasingly busy existing lines.”

He said research revealed HS2 would deliver 22,000 jobs and £1.5bn per year to the West Midlands.

“But these are the benefits from phase one between London and Birmingham alone,” he said.

“We’ve moved on a lot since then, we’re working with the other regions and the project has real momentum. The Government’s continuing commitment in the Queen’s Speech and cross-party support for HS2 is terrific news.”

Further research is being completed by Centro to understand the increased benefits of phase two of HS2 connecting the West Midlands with Leeds and Manchester.

Mr Inskip added that authorities and organisations across the West Midlands were working together in a Local Connectivity Group to maximise the benefits of bringing high-speed rail to the West Midlands.

The West Midlands economic work was mentioned by NAO in their report: 

2.8 Birmingham City Council told us that they are confident that the programme will act as a stimulus to regenerate parts of the city centre. Centro, the Integrated Transport Authority for the West Midlands, commissioned separate analysis of the impact of High Speed 2 which estimated the line could support an extra 22,000 jobs in the West Midlands.

In the coming weeks Go-HS2 will release figures for Birmingham to Manchester/Leeds.

Yes, HS2 stops in Birmingham

On Monday (May 6) the Coventry Telegraph published a letter from MT Hancock of Wyken, Coventry, stating HS2 would not go to Birmingham and that journey times would not be reduced significantly.

Go-HS2 responded in a letter published in the Coventry Telegraph yesterday (May 9).

Dear Sir,

I write in response to MT Hancock’s letter of May 6 which incorrectly states HS2 will not go to Birmingham. The letter suggests the line will only go to Solihull and that passengers will have to change trains to reach Birmingham.

In fact, HS2 services will run from Moor Street, next to the Bullring in Birmingham city centre, with stops at Birmingham Interchange and Old Oak Common in west London before arriving at Euston.

The letter also states there will not be much of a time saving overall.

Again, this is not the case as journey times between Birmingham city centre and London will be reduced from around 1h 23m at present to a fastest time of 45 minutes.

Demand for rail continues to grow and HS2 also releases capacity on existing lines for more local, regional and freight services.

Regards etc…

Shadow rail minister Lilian Greenwood MP says HS2 is not just about London/pic courtesy of Labour

‘There is no question that HS2 is vital to provide the extra capacity our rail network needs.’

Shadow rail minister Lilian Greenwood MP was speaking at Insight Public Affairs event: HS2 in the Queen’s Speech last night (May 8).

She said Labour would continue to provide cross-party support for paving legislation and the hybrid bill, but added ‘We would have liked to have seen work start in the north and south at the same time.’

She was keen to point out that HS2 is not just about London, highlighting the importance of connecting cities in the Midlands and North.

She also said Labour would demand continuing investment in the existing rail network.

Alex Burrows, Head of Transport and Infrastructure at Insight, pointed out the average speed between Nottingham and Birmingham was currently around 40mph with a journey time of around one hour 20 minutes.

In further discussion Paul Chapman, of HS2 Ltd, said freight would benefit from released capacity on existing lines. Tony Mercado, of Alstom UK, said increasing freight on the West Coast Main Line would help to reduce motorway congestion bringing about wider benefits.

Could increased freight reduce road congestion?

Charlie Johnson-Ferguson, of RICS, said that there was an opportunity from projects including the Olympics, Crossrail and HS2 to export British expertise.

Lilian Greenwood MP, Paul Chapman of HS2 Ltd and Charlie Johnson-Ferguson of RICS were on the panel, which was chaired by Alex Burrows of Insight Public Affairs.

Geoff Inskip welcomes HS2′s inclusion in the Queen’s Speech

Transport leader Geoff Inskip says HS2’s inclusion in the Queen’s Speech is great news for the West Midlands economy bringing jobs and investment.

Mr Inskip, chief executive of regional transport authority Centro, said HS2 was now one of the Government’s top priorities in the coming year and this would mean the project can press ahead with legislation and secure benefits for the regions.

“This is exactly what we wanted to hear – a continuing commitment and tremendous news for the West Midlands,” Mr Inskip said.

“HS2 will bring fast, direct services connecting eight of our ten largest cities, but it will also release capacity for more services on our existing lines.

“We’re already working to get the best possible benefits from HS2 at a local and regional level and so this continuing, unwavering commitment is crucial.”

Mr Inskip said research revealed that HS2 would deliver 22,000 jobs and £1.5bn per year to the West Midlands when phase one of the high-speed line between London and Birmingham was completed.

Further work is being done to calculate the benefits for phase two of the project which runs from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds.

Authorities and organisations across the region are working together in a Local Connectivity Group to maximise the benefits of bringing high-speed rail to the West Midlands.

They are calling for direct international services to destinations including Paris and Brussels and examining new routes for Metro and heavy rail to feed into and connect with the region’s two high speed rail stations.

They also want to increase rail services on existing corridors, including Wolverhampton to Birmingham Airport and Birmingham to Coventry.

The Group also want the Birmingham city centre station HS2 in Moor Street to be designed to allow for swift transfer between local and high speed services.

HS2 Ltd image of Euston station, amended plan

HS2 Ltd has revealed amended plans for Euston station in a press release issued this morning.

HS2 Ltd’s revised proposal features:

• Potential opportunities for over-station development – with the possibility of being used for future homes, open space and businesses.
• The capacity needed for high speed and conventional trains
• New platforms and facilities for the high-speed trains
• New, improved facilities for all passengers in a redeveloped, integrated station with a new, combined concourse and façade
• Better connections with the Underground, including a new Underground ticket hall
• A sub-surface pedestrian link between Euston and Euston Square Tube
• East-west pedestrian routes across the station, helping to link communities on either side of the station.

HS2 Ltd Chief Executive Alison Munro said: “HS2 will be an engine for growth that supports the creation of thousands of jobs for Londoners, provides extra space on the existing lines for more commuter services, and improved connectivity with our great northern cities.

“Community concerns have been raised about the potential disruption caused by the redevelopment of Euston Station. Following more work done by our engineers to find the best way to deliver best value for taxpayers, we have identified an option that we believe delivers great opportunities for the area while minimising the potential effects on local communities in Camden and on passengers.”

HS2 Ltd’s news release can be viewed here.

The proposal HS2 Ltd has developed for Euston Station involves:

• Retaining platforms 1-15 (of Euston’s 18 platforms) at their current level with some modifications (this includes removing platforms 9 and 10 so that adjacent platforms can be lengthened – resulting in 13 long platforms) but improving the station around them – with a new concourse
• Building 11 new platforms for high speed trains next to the existing platforms.

The BBC reported on the news here

Demand for rail continues to rise 50 years to the day since Beeching

The boss of the region’s transport authority says more investment in rail is needed as demand continues to grow, fifty years to the day since the Beeching cuts (Mar 27).

Centro chief executive Geoff Inskip said there were plans to open new rail and Metro lines to passengers in Birmingham and the Black Country due to continuing demand in the region, but more investment was needed.

“It is fifty years to the day since Beeching delivered his report and we’re seeing demand for rail continuing to rise,” Mr Inskip said.

“We have seen a doubling in commuter journeys in and out of Birmingham in the last five years and right across the West Midlands rail is growing.”

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) revealed that rail journeys had increased by 30 per cent in Coventry and 22 per cent in Birmingham since 2008.

British railways are at their busiest since the 1920s, despite the network being half the size it was back then.

Dozens of stations were closed in the West Midlands following the Beeching report, including stations on the Chase Line.

The Chase line has since reopened to passengers and is set to be electrified between Walsall and Rugeley, a scheme Centro has calculated is worth £113 million to the West Midlands economy and will generate 1,370 jobs.

In 1999 the Metro line opened on the former Wolverhampton to Birmingham railway line and services and stations have been added to the busy Cross City route in Birmingham.

Mr Inskip said Centro was working with authorities across the region to maximise the benefits and connections with the planned HS2 stations and to make use of capacity released on existing lines.

Centro also wants to reintroduce passenger services to stations in Moseley and Kings Heath on the Camp Hill line, which is currently used by freight.

New services between Solihull and Stratford commence in May this year.

The Beeching cuts refer to the reduction of route network and restructuring of the railways in Great Britain outlined in two reports written by Dr Richard Beeching.

The report led to closure of 2,128 stations (more than half of total at the time), with closure of 6,000 miles of railway line (a third of the total) and the loss of around 67,000 jobs across the UK.

Coventry has recorded the highest overall growth in rail journeys, highlighting the need for HS2

The number of rail journeys in Coventry and Birmingham has soared in the last five years underlining the need for more capacity which will be released by HS2, says transport boss Geoff Inskip.

Coventry topped the national list with biggest overall growth of any city with journeys up 30 per cent in the past five years, with Birmingham in fourth place with overall growth of 22 per cent, despite the economic downturn.

Geoff Inskip, chief executive of regional transport authority Centro, said the figures were proof of the escalating demand for rail travel and need for more rail capacity and the need for HS2.

“Demand for rail travel continues to escalate and this is not just about London, this is happening right here in the West Midlands,’ he said.

“HS2 will provide fast, direct links between our major cities, but critically it also releases capacity on our existing lines. This report demonstrates just how much we need these extra local and regional services and the sooner the better.”

The figures were released by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) which reported that British railways are at their busiest since the 1920s.

Coventry has seen business journeys increase by 48 per cent, while commuter journeys in and out of Birmingham have more than doubled in five years.

Mr Inskip said Centro had carried out research to understand how capacity released on existing lines by HS2 could best be used to maximise the benefits to the West Midlands region.

He said Coventry would benefit from improved rail services once HS2 is built with new local services to Kenilworth and Leamington Spa, improved cross-regional links to the Black Country, Staffordshire and Shropshire and a half-hourly fast Intercity service to the growing business and employment centre of Milton Keynes  – which recorded the second highest rise in journeys (26 per cent).

Under Centro proposals Coventry would retain a half-hourly fast Intercity service to London.

“We’re also pressing for direct services to mainland Europe which will mean passengers in Coventry and Birmingham could be in Paris and Brussels in less than three hours,” Mr Inskip said.

“Network Rail concluded that the West Coast Main Line would be full by the early 2020s, but the demand we are seeing already means this could well be a conservative estimate.”

Centro is also working with local authorities across the region to maximise the benefits of HS2 to the wider region through improved rail, Metro, rapid transit and bus links to the two high-speed rail stations.

Ten of the 14 cities with the highest growth between 2008 and 2012 are outside the South East.

The ATOC release can be viewed here.

Pressure on rail capacity continues — as annual passenger count sets 1.5 billion record

Passenger journeys GB annual data

THE day before the High Court ruling that means planning for HS2 can proceed while consultation on compensation is re-run, another significant  — but less publicized — announcement was made by the Office of Rail Regulation.

On 14 March the ORR published rail usage statistics showing that over 385 million passenger journeys were made on Britain’s railways in the third quarter of 2012-13 (1 October – 31 December 2012) – 14 million (3.8 per cent) more than the same period the year before.

The ORR said rail passenger usage was “at record levels” — but because of its tendency to work in financial rather than calendar years ORR omitted to give the total for 2012.  But by adding together the figures for 2011-12’s Q4 with those for 2012-13’s Q1, 2 and 3, we find the total number of journeys in 2012 amounted to 1,508.8 million.

This is the first time the figure of 1.5 billion has been surpassed in a peacetime year since comparable records started 90 years ago, after the ‘Big Four’ railways were created in 1923 — when the network was much larger than it is today.

It is also somewhat ironical that the latest figures have been published in the month marking the 50^th anniversary of publication of Dr Beeching’s first report on ‘The Reshaping of Britain’s Railways’ — resulting in many branch line closures — which was followed by his second report on rationalizing the trunk lines, which lead to the closure of significant long-distance routes . . . including concentrating much traffic onto the West Coast Main Line.

Of course, it is the WCML — and its southern section, in particular — for which HS2’s first stage to Birmingham and to Lichfield (where it will rejoin the existing main line to the North West and Scotland) is intended to provide relief in anticipation of the route becoming overloaded by the early 2020s.

The projections for the number of passengers likely to use HS2 and to justify its construction have been based on what HS2 Ltd’s chairman Douglas Oakervee calls “a very conservative estimate” of just two per cent per annum.

But in the past decade growth in passenger numbers has averaged 4.1 per cent.

In fact, the industry’s recently published future rolling stock strategy shows that rail passenger travel since privatization in 1997 has almost DOUBLED with a 91 per cent increase — the highest among all the principal European railways.

The scale of the problem ahead can be seen if we project forward last year’s total of 1.508 billion journeys.

If growth continues only at HS2’s “conservative” assumption of two per cent a year, the annual total will nevertheless reach 2 billion — a THIRD HIGHER than last year – by 2025, just before HS2 is due to open for business. 

But if growth continues at the current rate of four per cent a year, the 2 billion total will be reached as early as 2020 — and by 2025 will surpass 2.5 billion passengers, TWO THIRDS MORE than last year.

No wonder Network Rail says HS2 is absolutely essential and that, without it, there is no Plan B.

“We believe the ruling is good news for the West Midlands in that it helps secure our region’s future prosperity and rebalance the UK economy.

“The Government has already made clear that the court’s decision is a green light for HS2 to now proceed without delay. We welcome that along with the 22,000 new jobs and the £1.5 billion a year boost it can bring to our regional economy.

“The Government’s decision to revisit the compensation scheme on the back of the judge’s ruling should also be welcomed. We have said all along that compensation for communities affected by HS2 should be fair and appropriate.”