West Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority’s (WYITA) Executive Board has backed work by Metro to bring the benefits of the HS2 high-speed rail link to West Yorkshire as soon as possible.

At a meeting on Friday 27 January they agreed that Metro should continue its work to make the business case for a link between the London to Birmingham high-speed line and the existing Midland Main Line. This involves HS2 trains crossing the West Coast Main Line near Lichfield Trent Valley station and joining the Midland Main Line north-west of the town. This will ensure that West Yorkshire and the Leeds City Region begin to benefit from the completion of the London to Birmingham stage of HS2 as soon as it opens.

“Engineering this short link to the Midland Main Line route, which is expected to be electrified, means trains could start running through to Yorkshire, as well as on the West Coast main Line to Manchester, as soon as the London to Birmingham stage of HS2 is complete,” explained ITA Chairman Cllr James Lewis.

Benefits are huge

“The local, regional economic benefits of being part of the new network through the Midland mainline, even before the full high-speed line to Leeds is built, are huge,” he continued. “It will start to influence businesses when it comes to making decisions about where to relocate and to expand, which will have positive effects on jobs across the Leeds City Region, so we are confident that there is a strong business case for the link.”

President of the Leeds, York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce Nigel Foster said, “The planned high speed rail network will transform connectivity between the some of the largest cities in the country, supporting economic growth and helping to rebalance the national economy. This will generate significant economic benefits by bringing places closer together and enabling people to travel more easily. The eastern route of the high speed network between Birmingham and Leeds is estimated to generate total wider economic impacts of £4.2bn.

“The eastern route of the network needs to be delivered as soon as possible, and should include a connection from phase 1 of HS2 to the Birmingham to Derby Line and the Midland Main Line could enable high speed services to operate from 2026 to the East Midlands, Sheffield and Leeds. This will deliver early benefits to the economies of these important city regions.”

At last week’s meeting, ITA members also stressed the contribution that the high-speed link would make to improving local services on existing routes.

Extra capacity

“Justine Greening, the Transport Secretary was absolutely right when she told last week’s 'Making HS2 Happen' conference that the extra capacity that HS2 will deliver and its ability to free up space on already-busy, existing local rail lines is crucial,” said Cllr Lewis.

“The transfer of significant numbers of passengers to what is a completely new railway will provide the opportunity for better train services across the region and beyond with more through journeys between centres and additional ability to transfer freight from the road network.

“We are already working closely with our industry partners to ensure that planned improvements such as electrification of the trans-Pennine route, new stations and station improvements go ahead,” he added. “But we are also pressing for further schemes such as electrification of the Caldervale line linking Bradford, Halifax and Manchester and the Leeds, Harrogate and York route, and new standardised electric trains, all of which will help ensure that when high-speed trains start arriving in Leeds, West Yorkshire and the City Region are HS2-ready.”