23.11.12
UK regions will feel more HS2 benefit than London
Pro-HS2 research group Greengauge 21 says it thinks the rest of the country will benefit more than London from the high-speed link.
In its evidence to the Independent Transport Commission, the organisation cites better connectivity to the ‘gateways for global commerce’, the main international airports and also the Channel Tunnel for access to the European HSR network.
The report says that London already enjoys what the benefits of ‘agglomeration’ – with businesses preferring to locate in the capital partly because they gain from proximity to other businesses and customers. A high-speed rail network that provides fast links between the key provincial cities, as well as to London, will give businesses located in those cities a similar kind of ‘functional proximity’ to each other.
High-speed rail also creates a tremendous development stimulus – as has been seen already in London with High Speed 1 and the regeneration of the railway lands at King’s Cross and at Stratford. But London has comparatively little brownfield ex-industrial or railway land left to regenerate, whereas the key regional cities have plenty.
Greengauge 21 director Jim Steer said: “There are good reasons to believe that the regions will benefit more than London because the capital enjoys excellent connectivity already. While HSR will improve transport accessibility across Britain, in the key regional cities the difference will be transformational.”
Speaking of the evidence presented, and international research based on the experience of countries like France, Steer concluded: “Together, these factors suggest that while London has much to gain from high-speed rail, it is the key regional cities whose economies will get the greatest stimulus.”
(Map image taken from Greengauge 21, ‘What will be the spatial effects of High Speed Rail in the UK?’, evidence submitted to the ITC November 2012. Copyright Greengauge 21. Gold stars are stations on the national high-speed network, big silver stars are stations with high-speed services, and small silver stars are stations with high-speed services dependent on wider route electrification.)
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