\u00a0 \u00a0 Jim Steer, is founder and director of high-speed rail consultancy Greengauge 21, and a well known advocate of high speed rail. Speaking last month to Christian Wolmar on the Calling All Stations podcast, Steer was asked what he would do about HS2 if had just been appointed secretary of state for transport for a new Labour government.<\/p>\n Steer said he would reverse the government\u2019s decision to scrap HS2 north of Birmingham and seek to extend it to Crewe by \u201c2030 or very soon thereafter\u201d. And he would extend the line from Old Oak Common to Euston.<\/p>\n \u201cBuild that because if you do you can create a coherent step forward for the national rail network,\u201d he said. \u201cThe key message I would have as secretary of state [for transport] is that \u2026\u00a0this will bring about transformational benefit to rail travel in Britain. It\u2019s a step worth taking. Unfortunately the last government made the mistake of chopping off really probably the most critical section of route.\u201d<\/p>\n Steer pointed out that Phase 2a between Handsacre and Crewe has a very strong business case and would cost \u00a36bn-\u00a37bn to build. \u201cThink of it as spending a billion pounds a year over the next six or seven years, which is what it will take,\u201d he said. \u201cIn transport budget terms it\u2019s not huge.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cAll the alternatives have been looked at and dismissed. Even arch opponents of Phase 2a like Jack Brereton [MP for Stoke-on-Trent South] have said we will need to widen that section of route. You can\u2019t widen that section of route\u00a0without causing huge local adverse impacts. So we get on and do it,\u00a0get it to Crewe.\u201d<\/p>\n You might as well talk about the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch [railway] for its relevance to the national economy<\/p>\n Steer argued that the Phase 2a was vital in order to unlock the full value of Phase 1, which is now estimated to cost up to \u00a367bn to complete. He suggested that fulfilling the potential of the line could enable a future government to sell it off as a long term concession to a private investor. The government received \u00a32.1bn for the 30-year HS1 concession when it was sold off in 2010, a high speed route that is relatively short and lightly-used. He added: \u201cThat \u00a36bn or \u00a37bn [to build Phase 2a] probably will pay for itself even in cash terms to the Treasury.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding the extension of HS2 to Euston from Old Oak Common, he said: \u201cIt is essential, obviously, to make HS2 work. There\u2019s been talk of huge private sector contributions for the development of Euston \u2013\u00a0they are, I\u2019m afraid, fanciful \u2026 So you have to face up to it. This is a piece of national infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n Steer was asked what would happen if HS2 was left as a line linking Old Oak Common and Birmingham, with a spur to Handsacre. He responded: \u201cI\u2019m not even prepared to think about it \u2026\u00a0It\u2019s completely ridiculous isn\u2019t it. You might as well talk about the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch [railway] for its relevance to the national economy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0 DON\u2019T MISS OUT \u2013 GET YOUR COPY! \u2013\u00a0click here to subscribe!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The post Labour must extend \u2018face up\u2019 to HS2 \u2013 Steer<\/a> first appeared on Passenger Transport<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u200b\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Government has axed \u2018the most critical section of the route\u2019 \u00a0Concerns raised country will be left with a \u00a367bn white elephant \u00a0 A key proponent of HS2 says that if Labour forms the next government it must extend the project to Crewe and Manchester or the country will be left with a \u00a367bn white elephant. Jim Steer, is founder and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camcab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3754"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/camcab.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Concerns raised country will be left with a \u00a367bn white elephant<\/em><\/p>\n
\nA key proponent of HS2 says that if Labour forms the next government it must extend the project to Crewe and Manchester or the country will be left with a \u00a367bn white elephant. <\/p>\n
This article appears in the latest issue of\u00a0Passenger Transport<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n