HS2’s chairman, Sir David Higgins, is set to present route options for a new high-speed rail link through the Pennines in October, according to Chancellor George Osborne.
The plans for a new trans-Pennine rail link – described by Osborne as HS3 – follow comments made by Higgins in March about how he would like to bring the benefits of HS2 to the north of England earlier than currently planned and improve east-west connectivity.
A report presented to George Osborne yesterday (August 6) by an alliance of northern city councils, put forward the argument for a new high-speed route through the Pennines capable of supporting speeds of 125mph.
The route would require tunnelling through parts of the Pennine’s to connect Manchester and Liverpool with Sheffield, Leeds, Hull and Newcastle.
As well as providing faster passenger services across the North, the report suggests that, like Eurotunnel, the trans-Pennine tunnel could include freight terminals at either end, creating a drive-on facility for road freight.
Please do not put apostrophes in plurals. It’s Pennines NOT Pennine’s!
‘ear, ‘ear!
Only in America, notorious for its slow trains, would they describe a 125 mph line as “HS”. In the UK, any such line should run at 186mph or more. So Mr Osborne should call it the Trans Pennine Link or some such, but NOT HS3.