The Department for Transport (DfT) has signalled that it will look again at options for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) in response to a report by the Transport Select Committee.
The Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) report, criticised the government's decision to exclude Bradford from plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail and said that the government had not done enough to assess the economic benefits of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
In a response to the report, the DfT said that it would take the committee’s findings into account when it publishes its updated report later this year.
DfT also indicated that they would consult with stakeholders on the most appropriate way forward.
Transport Committee chair, Iain Stewart MP said: “The main arguments of the Committee’s report have been vindicated as the Government has accepted that more work is needed on key elements of the Integrated Rail Plan – its cost-benefit ratios, contributions to levelling up, and projections on shortening journey times. We welcome those elements of the response, even though we regret this work was not completed before the major strategic decisions in the IRP were taken.
“We are particularly glad to see DfT taking an open-minded approach to building a new station at Bradford – sometimes dubbed the most badly connected city in the UK – and doing more analysis of a range of different network options.”
In its response to report, the Committee argued that the DfT had not properly tested alternative options and had omitted key analysis of the wider economic benefits which meant that the different options for NPR could not be properly tested or compared.
Lord McLoughlin, chair of Transport for the North said: “This is a welcome announcement by the Government and a helpful step in the right direction. Transport for the North has long called for the initial decision of the Integrated Rail Plan to be re-examined and the evidence base re-assessed.
“The strong desire of our Board is for Northern Powerhouse Rail in full and for it to be as ambitious as possible for the North, and for that to happen there needs to be a solution that best works for Bradford.
“Transport for the North continues to work closely with Government to ensure we get to the best possible evidence-led outcome for the North.”
Despite the willingness to review the decision on the exclusion of Bradford, the DfT did confirm that it did not have any alternative plan to the ‘Golborne Link’ – the section of HS2 that would have connected the West Coast Mainline to Crewe. The committee had asked for an alternative to the link after it had been dropped by HS2 in 2022, but the Department has indicated that it will take longer to identify an alternative.
Alongside the re-assessment of connecting Bradford, the Government also revealed that a study into how best to deliver HS2 to Leeds would take 18 months to deliver. The IRP had initially shortened HS2 so it terminated at East Midlands Parkway.
Photo Credit:Istock
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