Response to the House of Lords 'rethinking HS2' report
The North needs both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, with a station in Bradford, alongside investment in the East Coast Main Line and an upgraded trans-Pennine line to deliver the economic outcomes our region, the North and the UK, need to prosper in the decades ahead.
12 June 2019
Responding to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee report ‘Rethinking HS2’, Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority Lead on Transport, said:
“The committee is right to focus on the poor connections between cities in the North and Midlands and the role constructing HS2 from the North could play in addressing this significant brake on our economies. This option should be considered, along with others which help control costs, while continuing to deliver a new North-South railway on the current HS2 timetable.
“The North needs both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, with a station in Bradford, alongside investment in the East Coast Main Line and an upgraded trans-Pennine line to deliver the economic outcomes our region, the North and the UK, need to prosper in the decades ahead.
“I welcome the committee’s recognition that HS2 will have a ‘transformative effect’ on local economies. Our plans show HS2, integrated with local transport at a transformed Leeds station, can deliver 40,000 additional jobs directly and a further 50,000 through productivity and regeneration benefits by 2050 in the Leeds City Region.”
A copy of the report can be found on the UK Parliament website (opens in new tab).
16 May 2019