05.03.18
West Midlands transport leaders meet to discuss reducing HS2 disruption
The potential for significant disruption to the West Midlands’ motorway and road networks needs to be managed during the construction of HS2, political and transport leaders have agreed.
Transport minister Jesse Norman, mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street, Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan, HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston, route managing director of London North Western for Network Rail Martin Frobisher, and representatives from the Department of Transport and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) met last Thursday at the inaugural meeting of the Resilience Partnership at the offices of the West Midlands Combined Authority, in Birmingham.
The group discussed how to keep the West Midlands open for business and support growth during the extended HS2 construction period.
Work is expected to begin on the line between London and Birmingham in early 2019, with some preparation works this year, and the first trains are scheduled to run in 2026.
Birmingham will see the construction of two new stations - Birmingham Curzon Street and Birmingham Interchange.
The work will be a huge operation, and will require a number of crossings to be built over the existing rail and road infrastructure, meaning that there is a potential for significant disruption across the region’s transport network.
The Resilience Partnership has been established to manage this disruption and develop a template for collaboration for other major investment programmes on a similar scale.
Between Euston station to Birmingham Interchange, next to the National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham Airport, will be the first phase of construction, and a spur will link this with Birmingham Curzon in the city centre.
Transport minister Jesse Norman said that the meeting was very productive, and that the group is keen to minimise disruption from the construction works.
He added: “HS2 will become the backbone of our national rail network, and improve vital connections between eight of the ten biggest cities in our country.
“It will deliver greater capacity for freight and faster journeys for passengers, boosting economic growth.”
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority explained: “HS2 will be worth billions to the West Midlands economy once complete but to build it is going to be a massive undertaking.
“We need to establish how we deal with traffic diversion routes and how to keep them flowing, because they will have a critically important part to play during that construction phase.
“That is why it is so important that all the bodies involved come together to plan how best to cause the minimum disruption possible and keep the region moving.”
Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an RTM columnist? If so, click here.