Liverpool Chamber praises HS2 decision
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce praises the government's decision to invest in the first stage of the creation of a high speed rail network linking London to the Midlands.
Jack Stopforth, Liverpool Chamber Chief Executive stated: "The Government's commitment to high-speed rail should be applauded as an important step to strengthening the position of British business in the global economy. Investment in a world-class infrastructure network is a pillar of productivity and the enhancement of competitiveness."
Dr Peter Brown, Co-Chair of the Liverpool Chamber Transport Committee added: "Further upgrading of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) alone will not deliver adequate capacity. HS2 will enable the realisation of both a 21st century standard of inter-city passenger rail travel and the release of capacity of the existing rail network to meet future freight movement demand."
Now it is important for the northern business leaders to continue the lobby for the high speed line connecting Leeds and Manchester. The plans published today show that the precise route for this phase of the programme will be determined in 2014.
Although Liverpool will be served by high speed trains able to use both HS2 and existing intercity lines seamlessly to save up to an hour on journeys to London, we will continue to lobby for new network capacity to ensure end-to-end high-speed access from Liverpool.
We are also calling on the DfT to work closely with the Scottish Government in phase 2 in order to extend High Speed connectivity to Glasgow and Edinburgh as a matter of priority. We would also like to see legislation timelines brought forward which will cement the commitment to delivery across both phases one and two of HS2. The end goal, which is to successfully construct and commence operations on the High Speed network, should be kept in sight notwithstanding the statutory processes leading to that outcome.
Bob Prattey, chief executive of ACC Liverpool, encouraged the government to bring forward plans for the later phase which would see an extension to the north west with high speed trains running to just outside Liverpool before slowing to conventional speed.
He said: "Whilst we support the latest HS2 developments, we would like to see improved connectivity between London and the north west sooner than the current proposal of 2032/33.
"Since opening in 2008, ACC Liverpool has generated £500 million in economic benefit to the Liverpool City Region.
"Our transport network is a vital component to attracting new events to our venue and the feedback we continually receive is the perception of our distance from London. Although travel time is now two hours eight minutes, perceptions will not change until this is less than two hours.
"Similarly on an international playing field, ACC Liverpool often competes with other European venues to attract events. The majority of our competitor venues in France, Spain, Germany and Italy all benefit from high speed rail connectivity. It will therefore be vital for the UK to invest in 21st century infrastructure.
"We believe that increasing the speed and capacity of rail service to just outside Liverpool through HS2 infrastructure investment will be a fundamental aspect in the future success of ACC Liverpool's business and our ability to create economic benefit to the Liverpool City Region.
"We support the government's decision to give the go ahead to HS2 but would prefer not to wait two decades before it becomes a reality."
Neil Scales, Chair of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and Chief Executive of Merseytravel said "We welcome the announcement and look forward to further consultations on details of the route beyond Birmingham."
