High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill

High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill

The purpose of the Bill is to:

● Provide the powers to build and operate the next stage of the High Speed Two (HS2) network between Crewe and Manchester.

The main benefits of the Bill would be:

● Supporting the UK’s recovery from COVID-19 and rebuilding the economy through the delivery of large scale, high-quality infrastructure that will stimulate short-term economic activity, generate long-term growth, and tackle regional disparity by delivering a new transport spine in the North West.

● Helping the UK to meet its targets on carbon, biodiversity, and wider environmental sustainability, through the provision of a low-carbon alternative for travel for many decades to come and the commitment to aim for ten per cent net gain in biodiversity.

● Enabling enhancements to the existing Rail Network across the North, freeing up much needed capacity on key routes, such as Stockport to Manchester, and relieving the bottleneck at Crewe. It also provides critical infrastructure to allow the delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail and new Manchester Metrolink routes.

The main elements of the Bill are:

● Providing the powers to compulsorily acquire the land needed for the railway, construct the railway, and operate it.

● Seeking outline planning permission to deliver the scheme.

● Setting out how existing railway regulation will apply to HS2.

● Modifying, or disapplying, existing legislation that would apply to the construction of the scheme, reflecting that the scheme will have been approved by Parliament.

Territorial extent and application

● The Bill will extend across the UK, but apply to England and Scotland only.

Key facts

● This Bill is part of delivering the Integrated Rail Plan which, at £96 billion, is the single biggest investment in Britain's rail network ever.

● The route runs north-east from Crewe towards Manchester, and includes two new stations, one at Manchester Airport (which is subject to third party funding) and the other adjacent to Manchester Piccadilly station.

● Completion of the scheme and start of services is expected between 2035-41.

● HS2 is already supporting over 22,000 skilled jobs and has created more than 825 apprenticeships. To date, over 2,400 companies have now delivered work on HS2 Ltd. At its peak, HS2 is forecast to support over 34,000 jobs in construction and rail engineering activities, and 3,100 permanent jobs in operation and maintenance.

● The proposed scheme for this phase will further shorten journey times, making

Manchester just over an hour away from London. It will also almost triple train capacity between Manchester to Birmingham (from 450 seats currently to up to 1,100 seats per hour once the route opens).