Written evidence from Leeds City Region
(HSR 127)
1. What are the main arguments either for
or against HSR?
There are a number of arguments for HSR. These are:
Economic
There is a strong economic case for enhancing the
capacity and performance of the north-south intercity network.
The benefits are particularly important in re-balancing the economy.
The Government's own analysis shows that HSR would
deliver economic benefits worth £44 billion over 60 years.
These benefits are conservative. Work undertaken by Northern Way[90]
has demonstrated around £6 billion worth of agglomeration
benefits. Work undertaken by Leeds and Sheffield city regions[91]
shows over £2 billion worth of wider economic benefits to
the two city regions alone.
The development of a high speed rail network in the
UK with significantly quicker journey times will also help to
address the challenges of global competitiveness of the UK. Other
countries are developing high speed rail networks. HSR will support
transformational economic change across the UK and in particular
the north of England. This will help to achieve the Governments
objective of rebalancing the economy. These transformational benefits
have not been quantified in the DfT's appraisal which means the
published benefits are conservative. Furthermore, the experience
of European and other countries in the development of HSR networks
suggests that there are significant transformational benefits
to regional economies (see Lille in France as a good example).
There is also the issue of global competitiveness
of the UK. Other countries are developing high speed rail networks
as the solution to meet the lower carbon mobility needs of their
modern economies. The UK risks being left behind if it decides
not to go down this path.
Providing additional rail capacity
Evidence[92]
shows that the classic network will run out of capacity within
the next 10 years which will limit the potential for economic
growth. The development of a high speed rail network not only
addresses the capacity problem on existing classic rail networks,
but through the reduced journey times allowed by high speed rail,
enables transformational economic change and benefit to the UK
and in particular the north of England.
The "freeing-up" of capacity on the classic
rail network will provide capacity to provide new and better inter
urban services on the East Coast, Midland and West Coast Main
Lines to centres not served by HSR as well as being able to accommodate
additional freight movements by rail.
Lower carbon mobility
The evidence suggests that demand for mobility will
continue to rise over the next decades.[93]
Should this demand be met by provision of additional capacity
on the road network, carbon emissions and other harmful environmental
impacts are likely to increase, congestion will worsen and quality
of life for a large number of areas will worsen. If the UK is
to meet its carbon reduction targets but at the same time enable
economic prosperity and growth, then a solution to meet future
demands for mobility is needed. HSR offers a solution to both
of these challenges.
2. How does HSR fit with the Government's
transport policy objectives?
— The
government's high level transport objectives relate to economic
growth, rebalancing the economy and carbon reduction - HSR fits
with both of these high level objectives, albeit over the long
term.
— The
Local Transport White Paper envisages more sustainable local transport
- the link between high level/ national projects such as HSR and
local transport is not yet well-made.
— Investment
will be needed in existing main railway lines to enable new and
improved services between important centres not served by HSR,
and to facilitate in rail freight traffic.
— HSR
stations will have significant impacts on local transport networks
and there needs to be an effective policy framework to make the
link. Investment in city region transport systems will be crucial
in order to ensure a high level of accessibility to HSR, and to
distribute the benefits as widely as possible.
— The
National Policy Statement on transport networks has yet to be
published - this is now urgently required.
2.1 HSR is designed to improve inter-urban
connectivity. How does that objective compare in importance to
other transport policy objectives and spending programmes, including
those for the strategic road network?
Inter-urban connectivity is extremely important to
modern city region economies. Bringing labour markets and economic
centres closer together has been shown to deliver significant
economic benefits[94]
through agglomeration. Indeed, the Leeds City Region Transport
Strategy[95]
emphasises the importance of improved connectivity to other city
regions, including London, Birmingham, the East Midlands, Sheffield
and to Manchester.
This does not however negate the importance of other
transport policy objectives and spending programmes such as within
city regions. Lower carbon connectivity within city regions is
also extremely important from an economic, quality of life and
carbon reduction perspective.
Evidence from city region studies shows that typically
70-80% of all journeys are within city regions. Therefore, more
effective integrated city region transport networks and systems
will support agglomeration and economic growth, and contribute
towards the Government's low carbon agenda.
2.2 Focusing on rail, what would be the implications
of expenditure on HSR on funding for the "classic" network,
for example in relation to investment to increase track and rolling
stock capacity in and around major cities?
HSR is a national, strategic, economic intervention
that is critical to a sustainable competitive economic future
of the UK economy. It will help close the north-south economic
divide and rebalance the economy. It should be therefore be funded
with this in mind and not be at the expense of the current rail
spending on services and infrastructure enhancements on the classic
network such as on the East Coast mainline, Transpennine and other
City Region rail networks which are desperately needed in the
interim/short term.
2.3 What are the implications for domestic
aviation?
The Leeds City Region has already lost direct air
links to London Heathrow and also recently to London Gatwick.
Whilst total numbers on these routes were relatively small in
comparison to inter-city rail travel to/from Leeds City Region,
the Heathrow route in particular was important as an inter-lining
hub for long haul business and leisure travel. As a result, Amsterdam
Schiphol is now the City Region's inter-lining hub, effectively
transferring domestic aviation to international aviation for inter-lining
from Leeds City Region. A fast high speed rail link from the City
Region to London Heathrow would enable "inter-lining"
again via Heathrow, however this time via a lower carbon mode.
3. Business case
3.1 How robust are the assumptions and methodology
- for example, on passenger forecasts, modal shifts, fare levels,
scheme costs, economic assumptions (eg about the value of time)
and the impact of lost revenue on the "classic" network?
As previously mentioned, the economic benefits are
likely to be understated as the transformational benefit that
HSR would bring to the North's city region economies has not been
fully accounted for using existing appraisal methodology. Evidence
from our own economic analysis has been accepted previously by
HS2 Limited and used in making the case for investment in a "Y"
shaped network.
3.2 What would be the pros and cons of resolving
capacity issues in other ways, for example by upgrading the West
Coast Main Line or building a new conventional line?
The experience of the West Coast Route Modernisation
programme shows that in addition to the huge disruption to passengers
of upgrading existing lines and the resulting negative impact
on revenue, the cost of upgrading existing lines to similar standards
would be hugely expensive. In addition, it has provided a medium
/ long term solution and the West Coast Main Line is predicted
to be at capacity again in less than 15 years.
3.3 What would be the pros and cons of alternative
means of managing demand for rail travel, for example by price?
Managing demand through pricing for longer distance
rail travel will have a negative impact on the economy through
discouraging economic activity and business, the environment through
an increase in carbon and other harmful emissions due to increased
demand for motorway travel and domestic aviation, and quality
of life through increased congestion, noise, and additional land
take for extra road space. Whilst pricing clearly has a role for
spreading demand for rail to encourage better utilisation of capacity,
any choking off of inter-city rail demand by pricing would be
a retrograde step for the Leeds City Region economy, and the Government's
efforts to rebalance the economy.
3.4 What lessons should the Government learn
from other major transport projects to ensure that any new high
speed lines are built on time and to budget?
No comment.
4. The strategic route
4.1 The proposed route to the West Midlands
has stations at Euston, Old Oak Common, Birmingham International
and Birmingham Curzon Street. Are these the best possible locations?
What criteria should be used to assess the case for more (or fewer)
intermediate stations?
No comment.
4.2 Which cities should be served by an eventual
high speed network? Is the proposed Y configuration the right
choice?
— There
is a need for the development of a national HSR network that connects
the major cities together.
— The
Y network represents a good starting point, but further connections
are required to the Tees Valley, Tyne and Wear and Scotland. There
is also a need to ensure that the proposed Y shape has sufficient
capacity to ensure that future demand from all parts of the country
can be accommodated to facilitate not only inter-city links, but
also connectivity to Heathrow and also HS1 to mainland Europe.
4.3 Is the Government correct to build the
network in stages, moving from London northwards?
— Whilst
it is inevitable that a national high speed rail network will
need to be delivered in phases, it is important that the full
network is delivered at the earliest possible timescale. Legislation
for the Leeds and Manchester legs should be brought forward at
the earliest possible opportunity. There should be a firm commitment
to the whole of the network - either through provision in the
Hybrid Bill or through the National Policy Statement on transport
networks. A clear plan for delivery with an indicative programme
will give confidence on wider investment decisions in the economy,
and enable alignment with other strategic policies.
— It
is particularly important that both legs of the "Y"
to Manchester and Leeds are delivered in parallel to avoid any
economic imbalances. The eastern part of the proposed national
high speed rail network will deliver greater economic benefits
than the western part. Previous work undertaken by HS2 Ltd has
estimated that the eastern route between Birmingham and Leeds
has a higher BCR (5.6:1) compared with the western route between
Birmingham and Manchester (2.6:1). The Eastern route would deliver
greater wider economic impacts than the western route, with those
being £2.5 billion and £2.1 billion respectively.
— Given
that the benefits of HSR are about rebalancing the economy and
that there are huge wider economic benefits to be had by bringing
northern cities closer to other city regions and London, there
is a strong argument for beginning construction of HSR simultaneously
in London and the north. Critically, the Government should include
in its plans for the first phase of HS2, a connection from HS2
to the Midland Main Line (which itself should be electrified).
This would allow cities along the eastern leg to benefit from
the initial phase of HS2 and would begin to help further those
economic linkages that are vitally important to the Leeds City
Region economy.
4.4 The Government proposes a link to HS1
as part of Phase 1 but a direct link to Heathrow only as part
of Phase 2. Are those the right decisions?
Given what has already been said about the importance
of inter-lining at the Heathrow hub to the Leeds City Region economy,
it would be preferable to have a direct link to Heathrow from
Leeds City Region via an electrified Midland Main Line and HS2
as part of the first phase,
5. Economic rebalancing and equity
5.1 What evidence is there that HSR will promote
economic regeneration and help bridge the north-south economic
divide?
This has largely been covered in previous sections
through the citing of evidence based work produced by The Northern
Way and Leeds and Sheffield City Regions on the economic case
for HSR and the importance to northern city region economies.
The Leeds City Region has, jointly with a number
of other City Regions along the proposed eastern alignment of
the Y, commissioned further work to strengthen the evidence base
that supports the case for high speed rail along the eastern alignment.
This work will be published shortly, however it confirms the significant
economic benefits to the eastern city regions due to HSR, as well
as to Birmingham and London.
5.2 To what extent should the shape of the
network be influenced by the desirability of supporting local
and regional regeneration?
Investment in city region transport networks and
systems will be vital to ensure a high level of accessibility
to HSR, and to distribute the benefits as widely as possible.
More effective integrated city region transport systems will support
agglomeration and economic growth, and contribute towards the
Government's low carbon agenda.
The shape of the network needs to help deliver objectives
around promoting economic growth, helping to reduce carbon emissions
and improving quality of life, from a national strategic perspective.
Governments have long sought to close the economic divide between
the north and south of England, and despite some progress, have
so far not succeeded. HSR provides a huge opportunity to do this
and so the proposed Y shape is considered critical by the Leeds
City Region.
5.3 Which locations and socio-economic groups
will benefit from HSR?
— City
centre locations and associated business and employment near to
HSR stations will be the primary beneficiaries, though there are
also other beneficiaries such as leisure travellers. Evidence[96]
produced for the Leeds and Sheffield City Regions suggests that
the sector to benefit most from HSR in the Leeds City Region is
that of "Producer Services" i.e. business and financial
services. This is to be expected given the importance of this
sector to the Leeds City Region economy.
— The
benefits of HSR can be extended by improving connectivity into
city centres by investing in local transport to maximise the potential
of HSR.
5.4 How should the Government ensure that
all major beneficiaries of HSR (including local authorities and
business interests) make an appropriate financial contribution
and bear risks appropriately? Should the Government seek support
from the EU's TEN-T programme?
No comment.
6. Impact
6.1 What will be the overall impact of HSR
on UK carbon emissions? How much modal shift from aviation and
roads would be needed for HSR to reduce carbon?
Two of the Government's main policy objectives are
economic growth and carbon reduction. One way of supporting economic
growth is bringing people, businesses and economic centres closer
together through faster and improved transport connectivity. However,
if this is done by increasing inter-city road travel or domestic
aviation, then future carbon emissions will not be minimised.
High speed rail offers a solution to help to achieve both of these
objectives.
It should also be noted that by freeing up the existing
classic rail network up to other traffic such as freight, carbon
emission reduction from other economic activities is also enabled.
6.2 Are environmental costs and benefits (including
in relation to noise) correctly accounted for in the business
case?
No comment.
6.3 What would be the impact on freight services
on the "classic" network?
Additional rail capacity should be freed up on the
East Coast, Midland and West Coast Main Lines for freight. This
would be extremely positive for the Leeds City Region in terms
of the future role of logistics in its economy. Rail freight distribution
centres in the City Region are situated at Wakefield Europort
and Stourton in Leeds. Network Rail's Strategic Freight Network
programme will mean that the rail network to these freight centres
will soon be gauge enhanced. Improved rail capacity on the national
rail lines connected to these freight centres by the development
of HSR will further facilitate growth in rail freight to/from
the City Region freight centres which will help support and create
logistics jobs in Leeds City Region, on the back of lower carbon
transport activity.
6.4 How much disruption will be there to services
on the "classic" network during construction, particularly
during the rebuilding of Euston?
No comment.
May 2011
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