{"id":82640,"date":"2017-07-17T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T15:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=8865c09eaaf7a6d022b19b7a58f47371"},"modified":"2017-07-17T15:10:00","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T15:10:00","slug":"news-story-huge-economic-boost-for-the-north-of-england-as-transport-secretary-confirms-hs2-routes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=82640","title":{"rendered":"News story: Huge economic boost for the north of England as Transport Secretary confirms HS2 routes"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<ul>\n<li>Transport Secretary confirms route to north-west, East Midlands and Yorkshire<\/li>\n<li>decision set to bring massive economic boost to the relevant city regions<\/li>\n<li>thousands of extra seats and additional services to be freed-up on local routes by new high speed train line<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Transport Secretary Chris Grayling today (17 July 2017) confirmed Britain\u2019s high speed rail lines to the north-west, East Midlands and Yorkshire.<\/p>\n<p>The decision will mean new connections between Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and the East Midlands \u2013 with all of them being linked to London by the line.<\/p>\n<p>It is set to bring a massive economic boost for the north and the Midlands by increasing productivity and creating new business opportunities.<\/p>\n<p>And the new line will free up thousands of extra seats and additional services on local lines. New research shows the impact of <abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> could more than double rush hour seats from Manchester Piccadilly towards Stoke and Crewe; and from Leeds towards Wakefield. It could also almost double peak seats from London to Peterborough and east coast destinations further north.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement will mean journeys from Birmingham to Manchester in 40 minutes \u2013 a trip that takes more than 80 minutes on services currently.<\/p>\n<p>By providing new routes for intercity services, <abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> will free-up space on our existing railways for new commuter, regional and freight services, taking lorries off our roads.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image embedded\">\n<div class=\"img\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"HS2 Phase One and Phase Two map.\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/image_data\/file\/65447\/960-hs2-phase-two-map-with-key.jpg\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Britain\u2019s new railway line will bring huge economic benefits across the country and help ensure this government delivers on its promise to spread wealth beyond London and the south-east.<\/p>\n<p>But as well as creating skilled jobs, apprenticeships and business opportunities, it will also mean real day-to-day improvements for people across the country.<\/p>\n<p>By building a whole new railway line for high-speed intercity connections, we will free up local services, meaning more comfort, more seats and more trains for passengers across the north and the midlands.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">We will now press ahead with building the line, while continuing to ensure affected communities get appropriate support and are treated with fairness, compassion and respect.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>David Higgins, Chairman of <abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> <abbr title=\"Limited\">Ltd<\/abbr> said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Today we have taken a huge step forward in connecting 8 of our largest cities, freeing up space on our railways and building a catalyst for growth across the country. Once completed 30 million people will be served by <abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> across over 25 stations, helping to change the economic geography of the country, and bring prosperity to the midlands, the north, and beyond.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Transport Secretary also announced the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/first-big-hs2-contracts-to-build-britains-new-railway-will-support-16000-jobs\">decision to award the first stage of \u00a36.6 billion worth of new contracts<\/a> today \u2013 supporting 16,000 jobs across the country.<\/p>\n<p>An upcoming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/high-speed-rail-west-midlands-to-crewe-bill\">bill for the section from the West Midlands to Crewe<\/a> will effectively act as a planning application, with the line expected to open in 2027 if approved by Parliament.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcements confirmed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/hs2-phase-2b-crewe-to-manchester-and-the-west-midlands-to-leeds\">new route for the eastern section<\/a> and plans to serve the station in Sheffield city centre.<\/p>\n<p>The government has also confirmed it will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/housing-market-review-the-shimmer-estate-mexborough-south-yorkshire\">ensure homeowners on the Shimmer estate in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, can secure a comparable local home<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The government has also asked <abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> <abbr title=\"Limited\">Ltd<\/abbr> to take forward the provision of a northern junction back on to <abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr>, which would support delivery of a city-centre to city-centre connection between Leeds-Sheffield in less than 30 minutes as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail.<\/p>\n<p>New plans for the route to Crewe include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/consultations\/crewe-hub-options-for-building-on-existing-connectivity\">possibility of building a new hub station in Crewe<\/a> to improve connections across the north-west<\/li>\n<li>potentially introducing <abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> services to Stoke<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The government remains on track to open the link from London to Birmingham in 2026, the route to Crewe in 2027 and the routes to the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Manchester in 2033. Preparatory work on Phase One has already commenced, with major construction starting in 2018 to 2019.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"more-information\">More information<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/high-speed-rail-west-midlands-to-crewe-bill\"><abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> Phase 2a<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/hs2-phase-2b-crewe-to-manchester-and-the-west-midlands-to-leeds\"><abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> Phase 2b<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/hs2-from-concept-to-reality\"><abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr>: from concept to reality<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/hs2-phase-2a-design-refinement-decision\"><abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> Phase 2a: design refinement decision<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/hs2-phase-2b-route-decision\"><abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> Phase 2b route decision<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/hs2-phase-2b-property-consultation-response\"><abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> Phase 2b property consultation response<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"contact \" id=\"contact_1021\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>\n<abbr title=\"High Speed Two\">HS2<\/abbr> and major projects media enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Media enquiries<\/span><br \/>\n              020 7944 3021\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out of hours media enquiries<\/span><br \/>\n              020 7944 4292\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Switchboard<\/span><br \/>\n              0300 330 3000\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Confirming high speed rail lines between Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and the East Midlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82654,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82640\/revisions\/82654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}