Staffordshire County Council today vowed to secure the best deal for the county as the HS2 route to Crewe is confirmed by Chancellor George Osborne and will be delivered six years ahead of schedule.
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A consultation will open on compensation and assistance for people who own property on the new stretch of route between Birmingham and Crewe.
In last week’s Spending Review Osborne set out £55.7 billion for the controversial high-speed rail link – this is an increase of £5.1 billion from last year’s government projections.
Improving transport links with the North is a key part of the government’s transport policy.
HS2, featuring trains capable of 225 miles (362 kilometers) an hour running on 335 miles of dedicated track, is to be built in two stages, initially connecting London to Birmingham and then splitting into two branches, with one going to Manchester and the other to Leeds.
TfN will provide Oyster-style ticketing across rail, bus, metro and trams across the Northern Powerhouse.
His officials at the Treasury said journey times between Crewe and London would be cut by 45 minutes once the new route opens.
The Secretary of State, Patrick McLoughlin has now put in place safeguards to protect the new, updated preferred route from future development.
HS2 boss Sir David Higgins proposed the plan to speed up the £50bn project past year.
Sir David’s report and recommendation about Leeds Station will now be considered by the chancellor, while Leeds City Council will continue to work with HS2 Ltd, Network Rail, Transport for the North, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the Chamber of Commerce to develop the scheme for the Yorkshire Hub. By accelerating the second phase between Birmingham and Crewe, we will bring the capacity, connectivity and regeneration benefits of HS2 to the North-West and Scotland years earlier than originally planned.
The director general of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Nick Baveystock, welcomed the acceleration of construction of the Birmingham-Crewe line, saying: “The North needs the benefits of high speed rail as soon as possible”. “We all recognise the huge contribution this infrastructure investment can make in helping to rebalance our economy”, he said.
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This would see the existing east-west rail lines combine with connecting new north-south lines to accommodate HS2 when it comes to the city, operating as a single station serving connecting cities and towns across the Leeds City Region and beyond.
