12.07.16
McLoughlin promises to deliver HS2 on time following Brexit
HS2 will be completed on time and is more needed than ever following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin MP said yesterday.
Giving the keynote speech at the ‘Attracting the brightest and best’ conference in Birmingham, organised by High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL), McLoughlin said that the benefits of HS2 were “more relevant” following the referendum.
Lord Berkeley, chair of the Rail Freight Group, and a member of RTM’s editorial board, has said that funding HS2 may not be “a priority” because of the economic uncertainty following the referendum result.
McLoughlin, who supported Britain remaining in the EU, insisted HS2 would go ahead, saying that there were also calls for Crossrail to be scrapped when the Coalition government came to power in 2010.
“Thank goodness we stuck to our guns,” he said. “Nobody now questions that decision. Just as it was right to build Crossrail, it is certainly right to build HS2.
“In fact, outside the EU we are even more dependent on the jobs, capacity and connections that HS2 will provide. Anything else would not only consign rail passengers to decades of overcrowding, it would also show precisely the sort of short-termism that has plagued infrastructure planning or decades. If we want a bright future, we have to go out and get it.”
Following the referendum result, representatives of major companies, including Alstom and AECOM, said HS2 and other major rail projects remain ‘vitally important’ to the success of the UK.
However, a recent National Audit Office (NAO) report warned that HS2 is behind schedule on its delivery. But McLoughlin said the report was positive overall.
“We are on course to gain the powers needed to build HS2 from the end of this year,” he said, “which the NAO called a significant achievement.”
The HS2 Bill is currently in the House of Lords and is due to become law by the end of this year.
McLoughlin said: “Construction of the first phase of the rail will begin on schedule next year, and the construction of the full network will be completed on time and on budget.”
Beth West, commercial director at HS2 Ltd, also gave a speech, in which she confirmed that HS2 is scrutinising the NAO report.
“We obviously have to look at that in earnest,” she said, “that’s something that we need to take very seriously, but we are still on track to go for the 2026 opening.”
McLoughlin also said “strong leadership” was “vital” to address the skills gap needed to deliver HS2.
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