HS2 Bill vote welcomed

Responding to the news that the HS2 Bill's second Commons reading has been carried, Cllr Peter Box, Chair of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority said, �By improving connectivity with other regions and providing much-needed additional capacity on our existing rail network, HS2 will provide a huge economic boost.

New jobs

�Our research has shown that HS2 will deliver an additional �1bn per year to West Yorkshire�s economy which means more investment and as a result over 13,000 new jobs across the City Region.

�It is an opportunity that the Combined Authority is determined to seize and exploit but it is vital that the benefits to the north are felt across all the communities that we serve.�

Electrification

West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Chair Cllr James Lewis said, �Improved connections between cities across the north are already underway with initiatives such as the electrification of the rail link between Liverpool, Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York and we will be calling for similar developments on the Caldervale line through Bradford and Halifax to Manchester and the Harrogate Line to York.

�A study carried out by the Leeds and South Yorkshire City Regions has shown that increased capacity created through the integration of HS2 with an improved existing local rail could deliver up to �800m of extra benefits and additional investment in our existing road and rail networks will further increase that figure.�

Catalyst

LEP Chair and West Yorkshire Combined Authority member Roger Marsh said, �Leeds� new HS2 station will be the catalyst for a wholesale redevelopment of the city�s South Bank area with the potential to deliver over 10,000 new jobs at the heart of a new economic corridor.

�The Leeds City Region�s 14 Further Education Colleges, nine Higher Education Institutions and its well- established and highly-skilled network of rail industry supply chain employers also make it the ideal centre for the planned new national HS2 College.�