HSR Briefing Note West Midlands

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Briefing Note

High Speed RailWhat it means for the West Midlands

July 2010



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1 . Introduction:

High Speed Rail is increasingly the subject of discussion, debate and media attention.

Having secured cross party support in recent years the creation of a high speed railnetwork for the UK has become an important part of the Government’s nationaltransport policy agenda. In addition, it presents a major opportunity for the futureprosperity of the West Midlands.

The benefits and impacts of high speed rail are many and varied. This documentaims to provide information and facts sourced from existing research and data.

2. High Speed Rail and the West Midlands

The Coalition Government has confirmed their commitment to build a high speedrail network to the North, Scotland and Wales, including direct links to Heathrow andEurope via HS1 and the Channel Tunnel. As a first step they have asked HS2 Ltd 1 toundertake a programme of work for developing a proposition for a first phase of thenetwork via a line from London to the West Midlands (including stations inBirmingham City Centre and in the vicinity of Birmingham International Airport andNEC) through to the West Coast Main Line close to Nuneaton with direct links toHeathrow and HS1.

Proposed high speed rail line from London to West Midlands and onward links to thenorth 2

1 HS2 Ltd was created by Government in January 2009 to consider the case for high speedrail services from London to the West Midlands, North and Scotland2 High Speed Rail: London to the West Midlands – HS2 Ltd Report 2009



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The proposed high speed rail line between London and the West Midlands isprojected to generate a number of benefits. In particular, to:

Boost the economy of Birmingham by £1.23 billion

Boost the economy of the West Midlands conurbation by £2.5 billion

Create up to 10,000 construction jobs

Create up to 2,000 additional operational and maintenance jobs uponcompletion of the London and the West Midlands route

Enable up to 14 trains per hour travelling at a maximum speed of 225mph

with up to 1,100 passengers on trains running between Birmingham andLondon

Reduce travel time to 49 minutes between Birmingham City Centre andLondon Euston from a current 85 minutes

Reduce travel time to 38 minutes between Birmingham Interchange Stationand London Euston from current 70 minutes

Furthermore, a network of high speed lines linking London to Birmingham andManchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Glasgow is projected to:

Generate £5.3 billion in economic benefits to the West Midlands region

Support employment growth in the West Midlands with up to 60,000 to70,000 jobs by 2040 as a result of relocation of jobs from other areas in theUK

Support an increase in West Midlands GVA by almost six per cent by 2040

Reduce travel times to 40 minutes between Birmingham and Manchester and65 minutes between Birmingham and Leeds

Reduce carbon emissions by up to one million tonnes a year by 2055



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3. High Speed Rail

High speed rail is national strategic transport infrastructure which can provide high

capacity, faster rail links between key cities across England, and as part of a nationalstrategic transport network, it can play an important role in supporting long termbusiness competitiveness and economic growth.

High speed rail is a means of transport for moving large numbers of people, the 400metre trains with 1100 seats provide more than twice the number of seats on apendolino train (500 seats), and significantly more than a domestic airplane (74 to150 seats), car 4 to 6 seats or bus 10 to 54 seats. High speed trains can travel atspeeds of up to 250mph which is around 125mph faster than current passengertrains, such as the Pendolino.

High speed rail delivers the best travel benefits over longer distances exceeding 80to 100 miles and up to 500 miles, providing links between larger densely populatedcities; intermediate station stops add time delays meaning that fewer trains cantravel along the line thereby reducing the efficiency of the rail line.

Other European Countries (France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherlands) alongsidecountries such as Japan and China have long established high speed rail lines andservices, and other countries such as the United States are developing theirschemes. The UK has a very limited network in comparison; the first link – HS1

between St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel was opened in 20073

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Source; Advantage West Midlands

3 High Speed Rail Command Paper, March 2010



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Experience from other countries shows the benefits that a high speed line can bringto a city and region. The high speed rail lines in France have had a significant impacton cities along the route, such as Lille and Lyon.

In Lille, for example, there has been significant redevelopment around the stationcreating substantial new offices, retail centres, housing and a large conferencecentre. It has also enabled transformation in the local economy with the servicesector and tourism replacing lost businesses and jobs in manufacturing.

In Lyon, new office developments have attracted the relocation of business servicesand also new hotels.

The wider transport benefits that come from a high speed rail link can be seen from

the changes in travel behavior between Paris – Lyon. The 254 mile TGV mile link wasbuilt between 1975 and 1983 to overcome congestion and overcrowding on theroute. Subsequent analysis has show a significant impact on the use of differentmodes of transport - air traffic fell from 31 to 7%, car and bus traffic from 29 to 21%,and rail traffic rose from 40% to 72% 4.

High speed rail is a key component of the national transport networks of a growingnumber of the major countries across the world, playing an increasing role insupporting top and growing global economies.

However, building a high speed rail line will take a number of years to plan and build;current projections are that it will take around 5 years to plan and between 6 and 10years to build. It is unlikely that the next section of high speed rail in the UK wouldbe completed before the early to mid 2020’s and wider network with links to thenorth before the mid 2030s or 2040.

4 High Speed Rail: Lessons for Policy Makers from Experiences Abroad, Daniel Albalate andGerma Bel, University of Barcelona, March 2010,



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4. High Speed Rail and the transport network in the West Midlands

The West Midlands s its at the heart of the country’s transport network benefiting

from road, rail and air links to the rest of the UK, Europe and beyond. But we knowthat without investment in the region’s transport infrastructure our advantageouscentral location will become increasingly undermined by congestion on our roadsand overcrowding on our rail networks as demand for travel grows.

Local Authorities, the Highways Agency and Network Rail are currently deliveringtransport projects and developing the transport plans for the next five to fifteenyears. Information about the transport investment priorities for the next five yearsare set out in the West Midlands Transport Priorities Progress Report published inMarch 2010.

Between 1980 and 2007 the length of the total road network grew by around 16%. Incontrast the length of the rail network open to passenger traffic grew by only 0.6%over the same period; increases in capacity have been achieved by improved routingand scheduling of trains 5.

The number of people making both short distance commuter and leisure journeysand longer distance intercity journeys by rail has increased significantly in recentyears. Rail patronage in West Midlands has increased by an average of 7% per year inrecent years and there are currently around 45,000 long distance journeys a day

between London and the West Midlands on the West Coast Main Line.

In looking to the longer term, the number of passenger long distance journeys perday between London and the West Midlands is forecast to grow to 105,000 by 2033,with rail services on the West Coast Main Line between London and the WestMidlands forecast to reach capacity by 2020 6.

Recent research has shown that high speed rail can provide the additional long termrail capacity required to keep West Midlands’ businesses and people, connected inthe future and support a wealth of economic activity both in Birmingham and across

the region.

The alternative option is to further upgrade the West Coast Main Line, alongsideother rail routes to the West Midlands which is expected to cost twice as much anddeliver half the capacity improvements while causing major disruption to existingservices and properties along the route during construction.

A high speed rail link to the West Midlands and onwards to the north willcomplement the existing network and provide a world class transport link to majorcities placing the region at the hub of a modernised national transport network with

5 High Speed Rail: London to the West Midlands – HS2 Ltd Report 20096 High Speed Rail Command Paper, March 2010



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links to other core cities in the UK, near European markets via High Speed One, andto other international cities via Birmingham International Airport and Heathrow.

The new capacity provided by the high speed line would free up space on the WestCoast Main Line for additional local commuter services and preserve long-distanceservices to Wolverhampton, Coventry and other destinations serviced by this route.In addition, it offers the opportunity to improve local rail connections to other partsof the West Midlands and greater use of rail for freight transport supporting a shiftof freight from the road network. This has the potential to reduce car trips by up to13 million car trips by 2055, reducing congestion on the road network. 7

The combination of new rail infrastructure, longer trains and released capacity willincrease the maximum potential rail capacity between London and the West

Midlands by more than 200 per cent8.

High speed rail is not a ‘silver bullet’ solution to the transport challenges across theWest Midlands, but a longer term transport project which will open up inwardinvestment, employment and economic prosperity opportunities for the future.

A London to West Midlands high speed rail line would carry trains travelling atspeeds of up to 250mph, effectively cutting the journey time between BirminghamCity Centre to London Euston from around 85 minutes to 49 minutes, and to LondonInterchange Station for connections to Heathrow and other rail links to wider

London and South East destinations to 42 minutes. Travel times to Euston fromBirmingham Interchange Station linked to Birmingham International Airport wouldbe cut to 38 minutes.

Extending high speed rail north of Birmingham could mean it would be possible totravel between Birmingham and Manchester in 40 minutes and Birmingham andLeeds in 65 minutes significantly shorter than by classic train or road.

7 Fast Forward: A High Speed Rail Strategy for Britain, Greengauge 21, 20098 High Speed Rail Command Paper, March 2010



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High speed rail could also lead to significant opportunities for BirminghamInternational Airport making it more attractive as a ‘port of entry’ for people andbusinesses across the Midlands as well as London and the South-East. It is

anticipated the improved access provided by high speed rail would result in a greaterchoice of airlines and destinations served from Birmingham International Airport tothe rest of the world.

As major infrastructure projects take a long time to plan, design and build work isrequired now to start to identify new rail infrastructure.



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4. High Speed Rail and the economic impact in the West Midlands

4.1 Economic benefits

The proposed high speed rail link between London and the West Midlands wouldopen up a range of economic opportunities through:

improved productivity through savings to journey time;improved agglomeration benefits derived through business clustering;improved access to employment;relocation of business activity;opportunities for increased business, tourism and leisure activities;regeneration and development around new high speed rail stations inBirmingham City Centre and the NEC/Airport;the creation of jobs during construction; andwider range of direct, and indirect jobs and business opportunities in thesupply chain and support/service sectors to support the longer termoperation of high speed rail services.

The wider economic benefits (over and above the transport benefits) of a UK HighSpeed Rail network to the wider West Midlands cities, towns and shire counties isexpected to be in the region of £5.3 billion over 60 years 9 while the London toBirmingham route alone is expected to boost Birmingham’s economy by £1.23 billionand the towns and cities in the surrounding counties by £2.5 billion. 10

Nationally, High Speed Rail could boost annual GVA in 2040 by between £17 billionand £29 billion, creating between 25,000 and 42,000 jobs 11 ; in the West Midlands wecould see jobs grow by 60,000 to 70,000 as a result of relocation of jobs from otherareas in the UK.

4.2 Benefiting West Midlands businesses

In a survey undertaken by the West Midlands Chambers of Commerce last year, overhalf the businesses travelling to London made the journey by rail and were from the

finance and business, public sector, hospitality and manufacturing industry sectors.Research indicates that these same sectors are those expected to be the mainbeneficiaries from the development of High Speed Rail as a result of improved accessbetween London and Birmingham.

9 Fast Forward: A High Speed Rail Strategy for Britain, Greengauge21, 200910 High Speed 2: Economic and Regeneration Impacts for Birmingham, Steer Davies Gleave,May 200811 High Speed Rail in Britain: Consequences for employment and economic growth,Greengauge21, 2010



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More and faster connections between cities in the UK will enable firms to competeand collaborate more effectively, increasing productivity through access to widermarkets for labour, customers and suppliers.

The high speed rail line would be one of the largest construction projects undertakenin the UK and has the potential to create 10,000 construction jobs 12 . Whilst not all of these will be in the West Midlands, there are significant opportunities for localbusinesses to benefit.

Additionally, the line has the potential to create a further 2000 permanent jobsthrough maintenance and operation when the London to West Midlands railconnection is established. There is a strong case for the West Midlands to be thebase for national maintenance and storage facilities, which open opportunities for a

significant number of these jobs to be generated through businesses in the region.Washwood Heath in Birmingham has been identified as a possible location 13 .

In addition to the jobs created through the construction of the line; there is thepotential for jobs to be created in associated supply chain and engineeringindustries.

Currently, firms aiming at London markets tend to locate within 60-80 minutes of London and the proposed route would put much of the West Midlands within thistravel time.

4.3 Supporting manufacturing and inward investment in the West Midlands

The high speed rail line, together with the runway extension at BirminghamInternational Airport is also expected to increase the accessibility and profile of theregion internationally, providing greater impetus and opportunity for themanufacturing industry, supporting exports and new market opportunities andinward investment.

Being at the heartland of the UK manufacturing, businesses across the West

Midlands would be well placed to benefit from the civil engineering, construction,operational and supply chain contracts resulting from high speed rail.

The West Midlands is the most active UK region in terms of supporting the rail sectorand, through the West Midlands Rail Alliance, the efforts to source supply in the UKare already well established.

Over the last 15 years, some 34,000 jobs have been created and a further 77,000safeguarded in the West Midlands as a result of foreign direct investment.

12 High Speed Rail: London to the West Midlands – HS2 Ltd Report 200913 High Speed Rail: London to the West Midlands – HS2 Ltd Report 2009



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A high speed rail link and the region’s proximity to London’s specialised financial andbusiness services will help to facilitate investment and further improve the region’soffer in terms of direct foreign investment.

4.4 Supporting Economic Prosperity and Regeneration

High speed rail has the potential to provide a major impetus for the ongoingregeneration of Birmingham City Centre.

A new city centre station along the lines of that proposed at Curzon Street wouldradically enhance the redevelopment of the Eastside area of the city. In particular, itwill make the area a more attractive business location and have a major impact oncommercial and office development opportunities in the city.

Birmingham City Council is undertaking work to integrate the proposed new stationat Curzon Street into the wider plans for the redevelopment of the Eastside andDigbeth areas of the city.

A new Interchange Station near the NEC/Birmingham International Airport has thepotential to further stimulate economic opportunities in the M42 corridor. SolihullMetropolitan Borough Council is co-ordinating work to ensure that planning acrossthe NEC/Airport/Birmingham International Interchange site is integrated with localplans.



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5. High Speed Rail and sustainability

5.1 Climate change and the environment

High speed rail has the potential to reduce dependency on air and car travel therebymaking a contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. The Climate Change Act 2008 setstargets for the UK to achieve an 80% reduction by 2050, and at least a 34% reductionby 2020.

High speed rail currently produces only a third of the carbon emissions of car traveland a quarter of an equivalent trip by air, when the average loadings of each modeof transport are taken into account 14 . Research suggests that Eurostar journeys toParis and Brussels emit as little as a tenth of the carbon of taking the same trip by

air15

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High speed trains are powered by electricity, so their environmental performance islikely to improve over time as we get more of our electricity from low-carbon,renewable sources. High speed rail also has far less impact on air quality than travelby road. Because the trains run on electricity rather than diesel, the only air qualityimpact along the route will result from travel to stations by car.

Over the long term an extended high speed rail network would be likely to have apositive impact on carbon emissions since dramatically reduced journey times to

cities in the north of England and in Scotland would encourage travellers to switchtheir journeys from air to rail. Research suggests that a full UK High Speed Railnetwork could reduce carbon emissions by one million tons per year by 2055 16 .

Experience from the HS1 rail link between the Channel Tunnel and London confirmsthat that noise from high speed trains can be effectively mitigated.

5.2 Communities

Properties in the vicinity of the preferred route option may be adversely affected by

the proposed high speed rail line. Research suggests that dwellings in the location of the route will be affected by noise. Further work is being undertaken to assess theimplications and find ways to mitigate noise and disruption.

The Government has announced that they will be launching an ‘Exceptional HardshipScheme’ to help certain property-owners whose properties may be affected by HighSpeed 2 Ltd’s recommended route and who have an urgent need to sell theirproperty before a final decision is taken.

14 Fast Forward: A High Speed Rail Strategy for Britain, Greengauge 21, 200915 Update of Eurostar CO2 emissions using Energy Logging Train Data, Paul WatkissAssociates, 200916 Fast Forward: A High Speed Rail Strategy for Britain, Greengauge 21, 2009



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The scheme will be open to defined residential, agricultural and commercial owner-occupiers of property on, or in the vicinity of, sections of the recommended route

who meet the relevant criteria. Any property the Government agrees to purchaseunder the exceptional hardship scheme will be paid for at its full market value at thetime, i.e. 100% of the unblighted value equal to the amount it would be worth if there were no proposals to build a high speed rail line nearby.

Information about the scheme including Frequently Asked Questions is available onthe Department for Transport website. Full guidance on how to apply will bepublished on 20 th August and made available on the HS2 Ltd website .

Once a route is formally announced, the statutory blight provisions under the Town

and Country Planning Act 1990 would apply.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/exceptionalhardshipscheme/faqs/pdf/frequentlyaskedquestions.pdf



http://www.hs2.org.uk/







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6. High Speed Rail Priorities for the West Midlands

West Midlands Local Authority Leaders working with business representatives and

members of the Advantage West Midlands Board have identified key priorities for ahigh speed rail link to the West Midlands.

• That the London to West Midlands line should be the next phase of a longernational high speed rail network

• There should be two stations in the West Midlands on the route from London: A City Centre station; and

A Interchange station in the vicinity of Birmingham International Airportand NEC

•

The high speed rail services should be able to continue to northern cities (such asManchester, Leeds, and Newcastle) on the classic rail network prior to building ahigh speed line north

• The high speed line should provide links to Heathrow, as well as Europe via HS1• A high speed rail maintenance depot should be set up in the West Midlands

What happens next?

High Speed Rail presents a major opportunity for the future economy of the WestMidlands. Whilst there is considerable support from a number of stakeholderssupporting the scheme there are also many who have concerns about theimplications for local areas and communities.

At this stage there are still a number of issues to consider and actions required, totake advantage of the opportunities high speed rail can bring to the region:

Key partners will work with Government to progress the plans for a highspeed rail link to Birmingham as the first stage of a wider UK high speed railnetwork;

More work needs to be undertaken in order to more accurately understandthe economic and social impacts of H igh Speed Rail on the wider WestMidlands region;

More work is required to develop a greater understanding of theenvironmental implications and ways of mitigating and minimising theimpacts of a high speed rail line;

Increased communication and information needs to be made available tostakeholders



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More information is available in the Frequently Asked Questions and Answersbriefing and on the following websites:

www.highspeed2westmidlands.com www.hs2.org.uk www.warwickshire.gov.uk/hs2 www.birmingham.gov.uk www.centro.org.uk www.birmingham-chamber.com

This briefing note will be revised and updated as appropriate.This is the first version. All future versions will be number and dated.

http://www.highspeed2westmidlands.com/




http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/hs2


http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/


http://www.centro.org.uk/


http://www.birmingham-chamber.com/










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Appendix A – Further reading

Department for Transport High Speed Rail – Command Paper, March 2010

Review of High Speed Rail in the West Midlands – Atkins, May 2010High Speed Rail in Britain: Consequences for employment and economic growth,Greengauge 21, 2010High Speed 2 Strategic Alternatives Study, Atkins, March 2010.Fast Forward: A High Speed Rail Strategy for Britain, Greengauge 21, 2009High Speed 2: Economic and Regeneration Impacts for Birmingham, Steer DaviesGleave, May 2008Appraisal of Sustainability: A Report for HS2 – Non Technical Summary,Booz&Co/Temple, December 2009

Documents

HSR Briefing Note West Midlands