10 July  2008

 MP SUPPORTS NEW HIGH SPEED RAIL LINE TO WEST MIDLANDS

Stafford’s Labour MP, David Kidney, last night attended a Parliamentary meeting with rail lobby group Greengauge 21 to hear about plans for Britain’s second High Speed Rail Line.

The first high speed line is the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from Folkestone to St. Pancras, which is now called “High Speed 1”. Greengauge 21 has published a plan for a second high speed line, entitled “High Speed Two”.

David Kidney says he is very excited by the proposal:

“This rail group has revisited the evidence that was used to rule out regional Eurostar rail services, including a study by Atkins in 2001. It finds that there are sufficient changes today to justify recommending a new high speed rail line from London to the West Midlands. Changes include rising fuel costs, greater environmental concerns and new planning law enabling more of a new line to be on the surface, rather than underground in city centres as Atkins assumed.

“The proposal is impressive. It shows a new High Speed Line from St. Pancras to Birmingham City Centre. It includes a dedicated spur serving Heathrow. It shows a link into the West Coast Main Line in the Trent Valley so that stations north of Birmingham can benefit from the new services as well. It specifically talks of regional Eurostar services.

“All this is estimated to cost £11 billion to build at 2007 prices. It would result in fast, reliable and safe journeys between the major cities in the North West and London, extension of Eurostar services to our region and provide much-needed additional capacity for rail travel. I will be meeting Transport Ministers on Monday and I have offered to present each of them personally with a copy of “High Speed Two”.”