Greater Manchester transport leaders welcome HS2 consultation

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Greater Manchester’s transport leaders have welcomed today’s launch of the government’s high speed rail consultation.

High Speed Two would link Greater Manchester and Leeds to Birmingham and London in a Y-shaped route, with the completion of the high speed route to Manchester bringing the region extra rail capacity and a faster Manchester-London journey time of just 75 minutes.

Councillor Ian Macdonald, Chair of Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority (GMITA) said: “We look forward to the conclusions of High Speed Two’s work towards bringing high speed rail to Greater Manchester.

“We are pleased that the consultation has now begun and that the government recognises Manchester’s importance to the economy, making the city a key part of its plans. High speed rail has the potential help balance the national economy, closing the gap between north and south and making Greater Manchester more competitive and prosperous.

“A study we commissioned last year found that high speed rail links to the city could boost employment in Greater Manchester and see the economic output of the north grow by almost £450 million a year.

“This would clearly be good news – provided it was preceded by the necessary government investment in the Northern Hub, improving and expanding rail capacity around Greater Manchester to allow high speed rail to bring the maximum benefit to the region.

“If passengers are to arrive in Manchester on high speed trains, they will need easy access to fast, efficient local rail services to get them to their final destinations, so we must have the necessary infrastructure for such connections between Manchester and the other towns and cities of the north.”

Councillor Keith Whitmore, Vice Chair of GMITA, said: “There’s plenty of evidence that high speed rail would be great for the region’s economy, and a modern, high speed rail system would be key to transport development in Greater Manchester.

“High speed rail will also attract passengers away from private car journeys and domestic flights. This has obvious environmental benefits in terms of providing a cleaner, greener way to travel and reducing carbon emissions.”

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