Lord Berkeley – Briefing paper on alternatives to HS2 Quick wins and less intrusive construction! ‘Shovel ready’ HS2 claims to be ‘shovel ready’ but there are severe doubts about the time it will take to resolve the main civils contracts which, at present, appear to be heading towards a ‘cost plus’ arrangement, putting most risk on Government. In addition, there appears to be no design and construction solutions to either London Euston or Old Oak Common stations within or without any budget, so the project is devoid of a southern terminus and therefore not ‘shovel ready’. This paper expands on the Dissenting Report issued by Lord Berkeley on 5 January 2020. Financially HS2 is not incremental and self-funding HS2 is neither shovel ready nor is it funding-friendly, it will require very large sums to be spend before the taxpayer can expect any financial return. The smaller alternative schemes can provide ‘quick wins’ and a far quicker return on capital invested. Quick wins can deliver more quickly on the alternatives! If HS2 were cancelled and a commitment made to upgrade existing regional lines instead, what could be done to bring passengers better, more frequent and more reliable services in the next five years, the start of a 20-year rolling programme? Many of these are delayed due to lack of funding. The Northern Powerhouse and Midland Connect areas, centred on Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield have the greatest percentage of services with standing passengers in rush hours1, so the need for urgent improvements is clear. Unfortunately, HS2 does little for these commuters and will take 10 or 20 years to be delivered. Quick wins as alternatives to HS2 could include: Quick wins – to be complete or substantially started within 5 years -
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Rolling programme of electrification, starting with the schemes ‘paused’ by ministers in the last five years. This would also allow the reuse of the considerable amount of relatively modern electric stock currently stored and out of use. Order new rolling stock for longer trains, to benefit from electrification etc. Build longer platforms where possible – otherwise use trains with selective door opening.
Midlands: -
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Wolverhampton to Walsall – 5 new stations and services by 2022. Rebuild Kings Norton Station with more platforms for more frequent services.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/rai02-capacity-and-overcrowding#table-rai0214,