Continuation of the HS2 Phase 1 Hybrid Bill was also included in the Queen’s Speech. This is a recognition of the immediate need to continue passage of the Bill through Parliament, with Royal Assent expected by the end of 2016.
While there will be no immediate impact on the current network, the priority ascribed to HS2 (no longer with any serious political challenge) has ensured that it is well-placed to be the jewel in the crown of the Government’s transport policy. With continued indecision over airport capacity in the South East ahead of the Davies Commission reporting (potentially by the time this issue of RailReview appears), nothing else comes close.
Barring a seismic political event - such as a tightening of government spending to unprecedented levels, or upfront and united opposition from Labour and other parties - the newly-formed government has assured a long period of political certainty for HS2. For now, cross-party support remains assured - Conservatives, Labour, the Scottish National Party and Liberal Democrats all support HS2.
The only strongly anti-HS2 parties, the Greens and UKIP, both gained just one seat each at the General Election. And while there were backbench rebellions from both the Conservatives and Labour at the First and Second Readings of the Hybrid Bill, even with the new Government’s smaller majority it is becoming more of a certainty that the Bill will pass into law.
As a result, the government-owned company tasked with the project, HS2 Ltd, has gained a degree of quiet confidence, as scrutiny of the Bill is set to recommence at committee stage.
Although the SNP cannot in any way be considered ‘kingmakers’ in this Parliament, it is expected that it will make robust representations for HS2 to be extended to Scotland.
There is no clear plan or business case to extend HS2 further north than Manchester at present (beyond an acknowledgement that there are some ongoing conversations, neither HS2 Ltd nor the DfT have commented on discussions between Westminster and Holyrood on the subject). However, the SNP’s call for it to do so will not do the overall case for HS2 any harm.
And HS2 Managing Director of Development Alison Munro is confident that the continuity of Government makes HS2 Ltd’s job easier. “The outcome of the election is very positive for HS2,” she says. “Clearly government has always supported it. The reappointment of Patrick McLoughlin indicated that it’s full steam ahead.”
HS2 Ltd should now be able to fulfil its obligation to the Government without worry over the cross-party consensus that the election threatened (perhaps only in a small way) to break up.
“There is a commitment to rebuilding the economy and the Northern Powerhouse,” says Munro, who confirmed that a separate Bill to authorise the route to be built between Birmingham and Crewe (on the western arm of the Phase 2 ‘Y’) would be brought forward by the end of the year.
That will be an announcement by the Department for Transport. A separate Bill to cover the remaining elements of Phase 2 - the extensions north to Manchester, and to the East Midlands and Leeds - will also be laid before Parliament at some point between now and 2020, although Munro will not be drawn on the timing of this. Nor will she be drawn on any conversations that ministers are having (or not having, as the case may be) with the Scottish Government. Understandably, the focus right now is on the job in hand… namely Phase 1.
McLoughlin has licence to be bolder than HS2 Ltd itself on the prospects for the project. The HS2 Hybrid Bill committee will shortly restart Parliamentary scrutiny of the bill for Phase 1 (London to Birmingham). In addition, the Government will announce the way forward for Phase 2 later this year.
In a keynote speech in Leeds on June 1, McLoughlin reiterated the central tenet of the Government’s policy that boosting growth in the North, rebalancing the economy and creating a Northern Powerhouse is a vital part of the “long-term economic plan” - the Government’s favoured slogan.
“If you think it is significant that I am making it here, in Leeds, on the eastern leg of HS2 and in the North, then you would be absolutely right. And if you think it is a sign of intent that my themes today are growth, infrastructure and HS2, you would also be right.
“Nothing is more important to this government than a healthy economy which benefits all working people. It means rebalancing our economy and building the Northern Powerhouse. We will not waste a moment getting on with the task.”
After those passionate and tub-thumping words, if there were any lingering doubts over the ambition to build beyond the West Midlands and Crewe, McLoughlin confirmed that the full ‘Y’ network from London to Birmingham and then to Manchester and Leeds would go ahead. What’s more, he said that legislation would be prepared in this Parliament, looking at bringing HS2 to Crewe faster than planned, subject to further analysis and decisions on the preferred route.
Work will also continue to look at ways of using the HS2 line to introduce faster regional services, and at the case for speeding up construction of the Sheffield to Leeds section.
While much emphasis has been given to major infrastructure projects in the southern half of England and Wales, attention is now turning to the North. Labour local authorities and civic leaders are doing their best to mark this territory, but it is clear that the Northern Powerhouse agenda, much trumpeted by George Osborne, is firmly a Conservative plan (with some exceptions, the Labour frontbench remains confused on how it feels about devolution).
Any further development of HS2 under Phase 2 could well include a less highly specified (but nonetheless important) HS3 route linking Leeds and Manchester across the Pennines. The details of this have yet to be worked out, although the report in October 2014 by HS2 Ltd Chairman Sir David Higgins, and the subsequent adoption of those principles by One North, has begun to flesh out the concept of linking the top of HS2’s ‘Y’ route.
The vote of confidence in HS2 means that McLoughlin’s level of rhetoric has certainly been stepped up, as he speaks passionately about “the power of transport to change things”, and pledges “not to waste a moment” on working with regional leaders to create a Northern Powerhouse of jobs, prosperity, bright futures and closing the gap between South and North.
HS3 is obviously at its earliest stages. “HS3 depends on more work - that’s being taken forward at the moment,” says Munro.
The election proved a turning point, in that potentially negative messages around HS2 (which could have more resonance in towns and cities not directly served by the line) have become eclipsed by substantial promises for more rail investment on the key trans-Pennine route between Leeds and Manchester (in rail terms, a distance comparable with the total track length of London Underground’s Central Line).
Indications are that HS3 will be less of a brand new, highly specified line, and more of a re-purposing of existing infrastructure, although substantial new structures (including tunnels) have been mooted. HS2 insiders suggest that a London Overground-style approach could be taken… making the most of what’s already available.
Whatever form it takes - a 125mph railway, an upgraded line running at higher speeds, or an entirely new alignment - HS3 is clearly a government priority and will be developed further over the course of this Parliament.
So with a high-speed east-west link, bridging the top of the ‘Y’, now considered as vital to the north of England as HS2, how much will it cost? While no price tag has been attached to HS3, McLoughlin said that overall, £13 billion will be spent on transforming northern transport this Parliament. “Nothing is more important” than growth and infrastructure, he says, with billion of pounds of transport investment helping to end the decades-old economic gap between North and South.
Returning to the most imminent scheme, it will be some weeks before the cogs in the legislative machine begin turning again for the High Speed Rail Hybrid Bill. The Select Committee lost one of its members (former MP for Eastleigh Mike Thornton, who only won his seat at a by-election in 2013), but otherwise the existing membership was re-appointed by the whips. Site visits will restart to areas affected by the route, and the detailed work of poring over the Bill will continue.
“Clearly they attach a lot of importance to fair deals to the communities affected,” says Munro, who says that value for money is also high on the agenda.
“We emphasise wherever possible making an agreement with petitioners in advance, outside the committee,” she adds, in reference to the deals that have been done outside the Palace of Westminster.
The committee has also attached considerable importance to pace. And Munro is pleased with the progress made so far. “We are trying to get offers out to petitioners as early as we can,” she says, with specific regard to aspects such as noise mitigation and monitoring and road layouts (which will all have bearing, both during and after the construction period). The committee has “made significant suggestions that we are considering” - those suggestions will in turn be scrutinised by HS2 engineers and experts, who will then be able to consider whether changes are workable (not least on grounds of cost) and whether there are better alternatives.
