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Logistics UK responds to call on HS2 to take immediate action
Expanding rail capacity and improving connectivity should be priorities for the new Government, which should consider reviving cancelled sections of HS2, Campaign for Better Transport has said this week on 16 July. The charity is calling on the government to immediately halt the sell-off of HS2 land while the future of the project is reviewed.
Silviya Barrett of Campaign for Better Transport, which has today published a paper, HS2: what next?, said, “The government has inherited a west coast main line that is bursting at the seams.
Before its cancellation, HS2’s Northern leg was to provide desperately-needed capacity, as well as boosting northern economies and encouraging green travel.
“For the sake of current and future generations, the Government must consider the best way to expand rail capacity and improve connectivity, which could include reviving all or parts of the abandoned HS2 sections.”
In its paper, HS2: what next?, Campaign for Better Transport calls on the new administration to:
- Immediately halt the sell-off of land on HS2’s northern sections
- Review the option to revive all or parts of the abandoned HS2 sections
- Come up with credible plans to increase capacity and connectivity on any sections that would be impossible to revive
- Engage with investors in infrastructure to explore all funding options for future projects
- Commit to funding and completing other vital rail and local infrastructure projects already in the pipeline, including Northern Powerhouse Rail, the new station at Bradford, rail re-openings and the West Yorkshire mass transit system.
Logistics UK's Ellis Shelton said: “Reversing the decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2, or replacing it with an alternative project on the same or similar alignment, would create vital capacity for rail freight on the existing network.
"Logistics UK is urging the government not to sell off the land bought for HS2 to ensure it is safeguarded in the event that any future or present government decides to revive the project.”
Published On: 18/07/2024 16:30:00
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