Prime Minister confirms HS2 will go ahead alongside revolution in local transport

• HS2 will go ahead to deliver essential North-South connectivity, greater capacity and shorter journey times, with construction for Phase 1 from London to the West Midlands set to begin in April
• Decision comes alongside new investment for vital local transport links as PM sets out his vision to overhaul the UK’s transport network, including £5 billion to improve bus and cycle links outside London, as well as vital upgrades to local roads
• PM commits to accelerating progress on Northern Powerhouse Rail with an integrated plan to maximise benefits of rail investments across the North, informed by an assessment from the National Infrastructure Commission
• Reform package will improve governance at HS2 Ltd to ensure project is delivered better and more efficiently

HS2 will go ahead alongside radical improvements to local transport networks all across the country, the PM confirmed today.

In a statement to Parliament he set out that after careful consideration of the independent Oakervee review, the decision has been taken to proceed with HS2. With the right reforms in place, HS2 will become the spine of the country’s transport network, bringing our biggest cities closer together, boosting productivity and rebalancing opportunity fairly across the country.

Alongside this, the PM outlined his vision for a revolution in local transport to ensure that towns and cities in every region have the modern, joined up network needed to fire up economic growth.

A multibillion pound package to transform buses and cycling will deliver at least 4,000 new Zero Emission buses, higher frequency services (including evenings and weekends), more affordable, simpler fares, and new priority schemes to make routes more efficient. The £5 billion in new funding will also help build over 250 miles of new, high quality separated cycle routes, and dozens of ‘Mini-Holland’ schemes to make town centres safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

The PM also pledged further upgrades for local connections including:
Cutting congestion and boosting the local road network across the country by accelerating local schemes to the next stage of development, from Hartlepool and Cheadle in the North to Melksham to Salisbury in the South West
Upgrading Bristol East Junction station to tackle a major pinch point in the South West rail network, so that passengers can travel in and out of Bristol more easily
Taking forward work to improve the A1 north of Newcastle, strengthening the link to the Scottish Border
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“Delivering better, faster and more reliable transport connections is the way to close the opportunity gap across this country.

"But it is not and never will be an ‘either/or’ between big projects and local services.

“Dramatic improvements to local transport and the decision to proceed with HS2 will shift this country’s centre of gravity away from the capital and transform connectivity between our towns and cities.

“I am drawing a clear line under the mismanagement of the past – HS2 must be delivered more efficiently and cost-effectively so that communities feel its benefits more quickly, particularly those in the North.”

Douglas Oakervee’s independent review into HS2 has today been published in full. After thorough analysis of the benefits and impacts of the project, work on Phase 1 (the route between London and Birmingham) is set to start in April. Government will revive the legislation to deliver Phase 2a (connecting Birmingham to Crewe) as soon as possible so that preparation works can move forward.
The Prime Minister told Parliament that he is committed to Phase 2b of the project, extending high-speed rail from the West Midlands to the North. In order to work out how best to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail and Phase 2b more effectively, government will draw up an integrated plan for rail in the North, informed by an assessment from the National Infrastructure Commission.
This will work to identify the most effective sequencing of all relevant investments in the north, and look at how the two schemes can work together alongside wider investment in transport for the North and Midlands. It will also have a focus on ensuring that lessons are learned from Phase 1 of HS2 to drive down costs.
Recognising that better East-West connections are a priority for local leaders, the Government will look at how best to accelerate the delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail, including looking at options for a new delivery body.
The decision to proceed with HS2 is accompanied by a clear commitment to drawing a line under past failures of leadership, transparency and cost control, and a recognition that to go forward, things must change.

The PM outlined a number of measures to instil discipline and financial order to the project, including:
Appointing a dedicated minister with specific oversight and accountability for HS2
Redefining HS2 Ltd’s role so that they can give maximum focus to successfully delivering Phase 1 and 2a, and making new delivery arrangements for Euston station and the design and construction of Phase 2b, to ensure better value for money and on time delivery
Improved transparency through regular reports to Parliament from the responsible minister

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

“I’ve been clear that we needed all the facts to decide the way forward with HS2. Fully informed by a comprehensive and detailed scrutiny of all the facts, now is the time to drive HS2 forward, alongside a ‘High Speed North’ plan to give the North and Midlands the capacity and connectivity it vitally needs.

“We are also clear that the project must reform and improve, with clearer accountability and transparency to ensure its incredible benefits are matched by a tight control of costs.

“Our vision for increasing opportunity and prosperity across every part of our country doesn’t stop with HS2. We achieve that not only through investing in critical national projects to transform journeys in the future, but delivering on the vital connections people rely on today to ensure no community is left behind.”

Douglas Oakervee, Chair of the independently-led review into HS2, said:

“I am proud of the work that the Review Panel has carried out. The Review’s Report is a comprehensive appraisal of a challenging project. I believe the recommendations help offer it a way forward, a means of increasing scrutiny and oversight, protecting the interests of passengers and taxpayers, and rebuilding confidence in an important piece of critical national infrastructure which will do much to rebalance the economy.

“I am delighted that a decision on the project has been made, and it is now the job of the government to take this ambitious project forward.”

ENDS
Notes to editors:

The full report from the independent review into HS2 is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/oakervee-review-of-hs2
Local road schemes confirmed to be taken forward to the next stage of development are:
A689 in Hartlepool;
Rocket Junction in Liverpool;
A582 South Ribble Western Distributor;
A34 Cheadle;
A350 Melksham Bypass, and
A338 Southern Salisbury Junction Improvements works

PM checked against delivery statement to the House

Mr Speaker, there are all sorts of reasons why the city in which we now sit is the most productive region in the whole of Europe

the time zone, the language, the agglomeration of talents

and above all we have the mass transit system

that every day conveys millions of people efficiently and affordably

with tubes and trains and 8600 buses

into the central activities zone in the morning and out in the evening

like the respiration of some vast undersea coelenterate

and as that public transport network has expanded in the last 150 years

it has brought hope and opportunity and job prospects to people growing up in every part of the city and beyond

and it is the ambition of this government to employ that same utensil - fantastic transport infrastructure - to unite and level up across the whole country

and of course there is far more to do in London - and the present mayor frankly needs to be shaken out of his complacency -

but there is even more to do across the nation as a whole

Whether you are stuck in a jam on the A303 or on the outskirts of Lincoln

whether you are trying to get from Warrington to Manchester or toiling across the Pennines by rail

you know that this country is being held back by our inadequate infrastructure and so in the next few weeks this government will be setting out more details of a transport revolution

because we all know the potential of transport to change your life and the life of your town or city

and we know that efficient transport can clean the air and cut pollution and get cars off the road

We can simultaneously reach our ambition of net zero by 2050

and we can shorten your commute and give you more time with your family and increase productivity

and bring business and investment to left behind communities

and that is why we are embarking now on a massive programme of investment in local transport

Starting with a record-breaking £5 billion of new investment in buses and bicycles.

An investment that will mean bus passengers across the country seeing a dramatic improvement in their daily journeys.

More than 4,000 brand-new buses on the roads – zero carbon British built buses –on the roads of places Ashfield, Barnstaple, Southampton, Manchester and many more towns and cities besides.

More services, including in the evenings and weekends.

Simpler, cheaper and more convenient ticketing.

Properly designed priority schemes to speed passengers past the traffic jams.

And it’s an investment that will also mean cyclists enjoying hundreds of miles of brand-new separated lanes.

With “Mini-Hollands” blooming like so many tulips in towns and cities right across the country.

And that £5 billion, Mr Speaker. is just the start

My very good friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will be making a full announcement on this in next month’s Budget and I have no desire to steal his thunder.

but I can signal today that we are taking forward transformative investments

improvements from Cornwall, to the A1 north of Newcastle

from south Salisbury to south Ribble

from Cheadle to Chiverton

dual carriageways, roundabouts, bypasses, underpasses

And those are just the roads.

We have already set out plans to explore new investments in the rail network across the North.

Developing proposals to reopen the Fleetwood Line in Lancashire and Ashington-Blyth rail line in the North East.

Improving track and platform capacity at Middlesbrough station.

And installing new signalling at Harrogate, one of North Yorkshire’s busiest stations.

And further south, I can today announce that we will be upgrading the Bristol East junction – a major pinch point in the rail network of the South West that limits access to the Brunel-designed Victorian splendour of Bristol Temple Meads Station.

Mr Speaker the transport revolution is local because it must be local

we can unite and level up across the country with fantastic local improvements

with better rail and less congested roads

and beautiful built buses that are cleaner, greener, quieter and above all more frequent

and above all we can improve the quality of life and improve their productivity

we can make places more attractive to live in and to invest in

but we cannot make these improvements in isolation from one another

because we will only be doing half the job

we will not fix the great musculoskeletal problem of UK transport

yes we must fix the joint between the knee bone and the thigh bone

and the shin bone and the ankle bone

and yes we must fix the arthritis in the fingers and the toes

but we also have to fix the spine, Mr Speaker

and our generation faces a historic choice

We can try to get by with the existing routes from north to south

we can consign the next generation to overcrowding, standing up in the carriageways

or we can have the guts to take a decision – no matter how difficult –unlike the party opposite by the way Mr Speaker – no matter how difficult and controversial – that will deliver prosperity to every part of the country

50 minutes off the time to Glasgow

When it comes to advocating HS2 it must be said that the task is not made easier by HS2 Ltd – the company concerned

Speaking as an MP whose constituency is on the route I cannot say that HS2 Ltd has distinguished itself in the handling of local communities

As everybody knows, the cost forecasts have exploded

But poor management to date has not detracted in my view from the fundamental value of the project.

The review recently conducted by Douglas Oakervee

copies of which will be placed in the library of the House

leaves no doubt of the clinching case for high speed rail

A vast increase in capacity, with hundreds of thousands of extra seats.

making it so much easier for travellers to move up and down our long, narrow country.

That means faster journey times

Not just more capacity – it means faster journey times

extraordinarily fast journey times

Passengers arriving at Birmingham Airport will be able to get to central London by train in 38 minutes

which compares favourably with the time it takes to get from Heathrow by taxi – a point I just draw attention to the house

but this is not just about getting from London to Birmingham and back

this is about finally making – and considerably faster than the Piccadilly line – finally making a rapid connection from the west Midlands

to the northern powerhouse

to Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds

and simultaneously permitting us to go forward with Northern powerhouse rail

across the Pennines

finally giving the home of the railways the fast connections they need

and none of it makes any sense without HS2

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority considers that this first phase can be delivered for its current projected cost of £35 billion to £45 billion in today’s prices.

The designs have been improved immeasurably thanks to the tireless contributions of campaigners including the Rt Hon Member for Chesham and Amersham.

And if we start now, services could be running by the end of the decade.

So today Mr Speaker, the Cabinet has given high speed rail the green signal.

We are going to get this done.

And to ensure that we do so without further blowouts on either cost or schedule,

we are today taking decisive action to restore discipline to the programme.

I will be appointing a Minister whose full-time job will be to oversee the project.

A new Ministerial oversight group will be tasked with taking strategic decisions about it.

There will be changes to the way HS2 is managed.

We will, in line with Oakervee’s recommendations, be interrogating the current costs to identify where savings can be made in phase 1 without the costs and delays that would be associated with a detailed redesign.

And, so that the company can focus solely on getting phases 1 and 2A built on something approaching on time and on budget

I will be creating new delivery arrangements for both the grossly behind-schedule Euston terminus, and phase 2B of the wider project.

But before those designs are finalised and legislation introduced, we will also present an integrated plan for rail in the north.

Informed by an assessment from the National Infrastructure Commission it will, in line with the findings of the Oakervee review, look at how we can best design and integrate rail investments across the north –

including Northern Powerhouse Rail between Leeds and Manchester, - and I have just spoken to the Mayor of Greater Manchester who has warmly welcomed this project - which I committed to supporting I remember during my first days in office.

I want the plan to identify the most effective design and sequencing of all relevant investments in the north.

For example, with many in the north crying out for better east/west links instead of improved north/south ones, which you’ve heard many times in this house

…some have suggested delaying or even cancelling HS2 in order to get Northern Powerhouse Rail done more quickly.

But I want to say to you Mr Speaker and to the House, this is not an either/or proposition.

Both are needed, and both will be built – as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.

To make sure that happens we will, working closely with northern leaders, explore options for creating a new delivery vehicle for Northern Powerhouse Rail.

And we will start treating HS2, north of Birmingham, Northern Powerhouse Rail and other local rail improvements as part of one integrated masterplan, High Speed North.

Because something has to change.

Those who deny this, who say we should simply build 2B and Northern Powerhouse Rail according to the plans currently on the table, are effectively condemning the North to get nothing for 20 years.

And that would be intolerable.

So as we draw up this plan we are not asking whether phase 2B is not to be.

That is not the question, Mr Speaker

The question is how we can bring a transport revolution to the north sooner.

Together, this revolution in local and national transport has the potential to be truly transformative for the entire country.

Yes, it is ambitious.

But ambition frankly is what we have lacked for too long.

Two centuries ago our ancestors could have been content with breeding faster horses.

Instead, they invented the railways.

They created the transport network on which the United Kingdom rose to economic pre-eminence.

They looked to the future of transport and they made it happen and today it is our duty to do the same.

Let us bring about a future where high-speed trains glide between our great cities.

Where electric buses convey us cleanly around our towns.

Where self-driving cars roam along roads that are free of the congestion that causes so much pollution.

And where a new generations of cyclists pedal safely and happily to school and work in tree dappled sunlight

on their own network of fully segregated cycle paths.

This government – as we did in London - will deliver a new anatomy of British transport

A revolution in this nation’s public transport provision.

And a sign to the world that in the 21 st century this United Kingdom still has the vision to dream big dreams and the courage to bring those dreams about.

I commend this statement to the House.