AS business leaders in Cheshire and Warrington branded the cancellation of the second leg of HS2 as “a major blow,” depriving the region of £2b a year, the news was welcomed by Warrington South MP Andy Carter.
While Cheshire and Warrington LEP described it as a blow with the loss of 27,000 new jobs and 25,000 new homes, Mr Carter, said it would now see £12b delivered to improve the Northern Rail Powerhouse.
He said that when local businesses were asked their priorities at a recent business conference in Warrington, out of 250, only three said HS2, with all others saying Northern Powerhouse Rail and improving East-West Links.
Responding to Rishi Sunak’s Tory Conference closing speech today, Mr Carter said: “We need improved links BETWEEN our towns and cities across the North, it’s something I’ve called for consistently since becoming an MP, so I welcome the PM’s commitment to improving links between Manchester and Liverpool with a £12bn
commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail.
“That’s exactly what people in Warrington South have told me they want to see, it will transform train journeys between Warrington and our neighbouring cities.
“The huge potential of the North is being wasted. This cannot continue – we need to prioritise cutting journey times and increasing capacity and frequency between Hull, York, Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Manchester, Warrington and Liverpool.
“We also need to improve everyday LOCAL journeys for people, such as more buses and better roads. The most popular form of public transport is buses – which account for the majority of all journeys and are most used by people on lower incomes. Government investment in buses here in Warrington now totals around £ 42 million, it will bring a new electric bus fleet, more routes and lower fares. It also means we are keeping the national £2 bus fare which was due to expire at the end of October but we are continuing with it until the end of 2024.
“Investment in local roads generates an even higher economic return, reducing congestion pinch points and filling potholes – that’s something we need to see more of here in Warrington but we’ve been investing more per year in HS2 than we spend on the entire strategic road network.
“Because of the announcement today, every region will have more transport investment. There will be more trains travelling more frequently and faster between Manchester and Liverpool.
Mr Carter added: “At the recent Warrington Business conference we asked local businesses which were their priority – of the 250 attendees, 3 said HS2 and all the others said Northern Powerhouse Rail and improving East-West links.
“It’s something I’ve heard on the doorstep and it’s the feedback I’ve given to the PM.”
In contrast, Cheshire and Warrington LEP branded the cancellation of HS2 as “a major blow” that will deprive the region’s economy of £2bn billion per annum.
In a statement, a Cheshire and Warrington LEP spokesperson said: “The decision to cancel HS2 is a major blow for Cheshire and Warrington, costing its economy of £2bn billion a year.
“HS2 would have had a transformational impact across Cheshire and Warrington, creating 27,000 new jobs, delivering 6 million sq. ft of new commercial floor space and 25,000 new homes and a catalyst for the LEP’s unwavering ambition to deliver a growing, sustainable, healthy and inclusive economy.
“The decision will mean the sub-region fails to realise the potential HS2 offered to unlock significant housing, employment and productivity gains.
“We will now be seeking more detail and looking carefully at the Prime Minister’s promise to recycle the £36bn that he says will be saved from HS2 and how the projects he announced will help Cheshire and Warrington.
“Crewe was anticipating a £750m increase per annum in GVA from HS2 and we will want to understand what projects the government is proposing that will replace this loss.
“Committing to investment in major infrastructure pays dividends. Whilst large-scale projects will always be challenging to deliver, they bring significant long-term economic benefits.
“Investment in rail and taking freight off our roads is necessary to help achieve our carbon reduction targets.”
Meanwhile, Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to the Prime Minister’s announcement that he is scrapping the second leg of HS2, said:
“This staggering Tory fiasco has seen costs soar, and the North and Midlands are left to pay the price.
“Only after 13 years of dismal failure could the Conservatives make the centrepiece of their conference a re-announcement of promises the Conservatives have made before.
“Is there anything more emblematic of 13 years of dismal failure by this broken government than their flagship levelling-up project that fails to even reach the north?
“What started as a modern infrastructure plan left by the last Labour government has, after 13 years of incompetence, waste, and broken promises become a colossal symbol of Conservative failure.”
Laurence Turner, GMB Head of Research and Policy, said: “Rishi Sunak’s decision to inflict the biggest rail cut since the Beeching axe will send a shockwave through the construction industry and railway supply chain, costing hundreds of jobs.
“The UK’s political instability was already holding the economy back – it will now be even harder to fund and deliver the new infrastructure that the country desperately needs.
“We can’t rebalance the economy or fix the railway capacity crisis without HS2. It’s essential that the planned route is now protected so that a future government can reverse this disastrous decision.”
Meanwhile the Federation of Small Businesses says the decision will ultimately create a bigger North/South divide.
The business organisation said the news was a huge blow to Greater Manchester’s ambitions for growth and improved connectivity, and would be viewed by many across the North as tantamount to cancelling the entire Levelling Up agenda.
FSB also questioned where this left the Northern Powerhouse Rail project, which it said would likely now face years of delays if it needed to go back to the drawing board due to how closely it was interwoven with HS2 infrastructure.
Robert Downes, FSB Development Manager in Greater Manchester, said: “For a lot of people HS2 was and is the corner stone of Levelling Up. That is a project now dead in the water.
“HS2 was also an enabler for Northern Powerhouse Rail to happen. The facts are we don’t get one without the other, so without HS2, what now becomes of NPR which is key to improved east-west connectivity between Liverpool and Hull?
“When commentators said years go that HS2 building work should start in the North, this is exactly why. Today’s announcement ensures a lasting impact for future generations who will be left with north/south rail connectivity reliant on an overloaded Victorian network that’s not fit for purpose today, never mind in 20 or 30 years’ time.
“Improving east-west links across the North of England and the Midlands is absolutely vital, but so is connecting them into the national network, as would have happened by connecting Northern Powerhouse rail to HS2.”
He added: “The Government’s own analysis showed HS2 together with NPR, would add £9bn to GMs economy each year; £24bn to the pan-Northern economy annually, and create almost 100,000 jobs. This would improve capacity, connectivity, and help to level up the productivity gap with London. None of that will be now realised.
“We need urgent clarification from Government on what Plan C really looks like – in detail and with timescales. The big concern is that this sounds very much like a case of ‘back to the drawing board’, a complete reboot of major infrastructure design and engineering certainly for east-west rail plans, and back to square one for Levelling Up. The devil will be in the detail, of which there is precious little.
“The new or improved projects need to be assessed for benefits on capacity and connectivity for both passengers and freight, to set them against what has been lost from HS2 today. Ultimately, the responsibility is now on the Government to prove that these new decisions will deliver value for money for taxpayers and make life easier for small business.”
