The Rail Freight Group (RFG) has welcomed the Commons Select Committee on Transport’s Tenth Report on the High Speed 2 (HS2) project.
The report recognised that HS2 is required primarily to meet the capacity needs of passengers and freight, on the West Coast Main Line in particular, and is not just an issue of connecting London and The Midlands with faster services.
The RFG previously wrote to the former Transport Minister Philip Hammond, outlining the case for HS2 being about vitally needed capacity and not speed of travel.
Tony Berkeley, RFG Chairman, said:
“We very much welcome the Committee asking that the option to start from Manchester and Leeds should be investigated (rather than a South to North approach), since the congestion on existing lines is greater there.
“The Committee also asks that the links in London be looked at again.
“This connection must include a link from HS1 to HS2, which does not use a section of the North London Line as this is already very congested by London Overground and freight trains.”
