The petition of residents of Trowell,
Declares that they are opposed to the HS2 project in its entirety. They believe that HS2 Phase Two will provide no benefits to Trowell and the financial cost of the project would be better spent elsewhere, including improving existing railway routes and other transport networks.
The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons ask HS2 Ltd. to stop plans to build HS2 Phase Two and look at more reasonable alternatives.
And the petitioners remain, etc.—[Presented by Anna Soubry, Official Report, 28 November 2017; Vol. 632, c. 139.]
[P002085]
Observations from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Maynard):
High Speed Two (HS2) is a new high speed rail network for the UK, connecting London with major cities in the Midlands and the north of England. It is a Y-shaped network that will be delivered in several stages. Trains will also run beyond the Y network to serve places such as Liverpool, Preston, the East Midlands, Newcastle and Scotland.
By providing direct intercity services on dedicated high speed lines, there will be extra space for more trains on the existing heavily congested West Coast Mainline (WCML), Midlands Main Line (MML) and East Coast Main Line (ECML). This presents a once in a generation opportunity to improve services on these routes, including passenger services to locations not directly served by HS2, and freight services. This will improve passenger experience by reducing overcrowding on peak time trains and also allow train operators to run more varied and frequent services.
The Government have considered the impacts of HS2 in great detail as the scheme has progressed. We have produced and published several updated versions of the business case for HS2 to support major programme milestones and decisions. These business cases specifically examined reasonable alternatives to HS2.The 2013 Business Case supported the introduction of the Phase 1 Bill (now an Act). It set out three core objectives for the scheme:
Provide sufficient capacity to meet long-term rail demand and to improve resilience and reliability on the network;
Improve connectivity by delivering better journey times and making travel easier;
And therefore boost economic growth across the UK.
My Department also welcomes the ambitious HS2 growth strategy put forward by the East Midland (EM) leaders. They aim to capitalise on the economic benefits of HS2 through the development of an innovation hub, garden settlement and better local transport connections at Toton, less than 4 miles away from Trowell. Government is now working with the EM councils on their proposals as we move towards the deposit of a hybrid Bill in 2019.
In July 2017 the Government published its most recent update to the Business Case to support the introduction of the Phase 2a Bill to parliament and the Secretary of State’s decision on the route for the rest of Phase 2 to Leeds and Manchester.
The 2017 Economic Case estimates HS2 (the full Y) will bring over £92 billion of benefits—£75 billion to transport users and £18 billion of wider economic benefits - delivering more than £2 of benefits (£2.30) for every £1 of investment. We are confident that the scheme represents good value for money and is in line with other major rail schemes.