HS2: Phase one of high-speed rail line set for go-ahead
Tuesday 10 January 2012 7:43 AM
A controversial new high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham is expected to be given the go-ahead by the government later.
Transport Secretary Justine Greening is set to back the 100-mile (160km) link, which would be built by 2026 and is the first phase of High Speed Two (HS2).
The government says it is the only way to cope with overcrowding but opponents along the route are considering legal action which could delay the scheme.
The first phase will cost £17bn.
The entire cost of the project - including a second phase Y-shaped section extending to Manchester and Leeds, by 2033 - is expected to be £32bn.
Supporters say the fleet of 225mph trains will cut the journey time from London to Birmingham to 49 minutes and take pressure off the busiest lines.
The government also argues the project will generate £44bn of benefits to the economy over 60 years. In future decades, the line could be extended further north to Scotland, ministers are expected to say.
The transport secretary is expected to announce more measures to mitigate the worst effects of the line.
The BBC has been told miles of extra tunnelling has been added to the route to try to appease some of the opponents. It is understood that tunnels in west London and in some areas along the line will now be proposed.
The government was due to make an announcement on HS2 in December but delayed it while it considered the possibility of including a 1.5-mile tunnel through the Chilterns in the plans.
"Legal action"
The project - introduced by Labour in 2010 and continued by the coalition government - has proved highly controversial.
Residents in the Chilterns, including some Conservative MPs, have opposed the project.
The Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan, who is MP for Chesham and Amersham, has been one of the most vocal Conservative critics of HS2.
Protest groups formed to oppose the scheme say the planned route crosses an area of outstanding natural beauty and it will damage the environment. They also claim it will fail to bring the economic benefits promised by the government, and the money would be better spent on improving existing lines.
However, the latest review by Network Rail, released last week, found that two main alternatives favoured by opponents could not "generate the capacity" needed.
BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott says the government's decision is unlikely to be the end of the journey.
MPs will vote on a bill just before the next election, he says, and it will be at least 14 years before anyone will be catching a new high-speed train.
Meanwhile, opponents could potentially seek a judicial review of the way the consultation was handled, the environmental impact and the compensation packages.
Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle said the decision was "an important milestone in the delivery of the HSR link first proposed by Labour in government".
Ms Eagle said analysis of alternatives had shown HS2 was the best way to address worsening capacity issues on main rail lines while cutting journey times.
"HS2 will now be taken forward on a cross-party basis to give it the certainty a major project of this kind needs," she added.
'Empty promise'
Ms Eagle said unless the coalition government sought parliamentary approval for the entire line then any commitment to build the whole route would be seen as an "empty promise".
Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: "HS2 is a vote of confidence in the railways and recognition of the vital role the industry has to play in supporting jobs and driving sustainable economic growth."
But the Taxpayers' Alliance, a pressure group which lobbies for lower taxes, said the project would leave "generations of ordinary taxpayers paying for a train set that will mostly be used by the rich".
"HSR is a white elephant that won't help the millions of commuters stuck on overcrowded trains up and down Britain," said Emma Boon, campaign director.
Water Orton resident Peter Walker told BBC Radio 5 Live that no-one had contacted him about the rail link despite a map placing its route directly through his house.
"Water Orton will be absolutely destroyed when this comes through," he said. "You think of it now - it's got M42, the Northern Relief Road, M6 - and it chops it in half."
He said he did not believe the HS2 would benefit the Warwickshire town. "How can it possibly bring benefits when the train's supposed to be running at 14 trains an hour - I presume seven one way, seven the other way - and they have the capacity to carry over 1,000 passengers?"
Sarah Lee, head of policy for the Countryside Alliance, urged the government to reconsider rather than approve a scheme "without full consideration of the devastating impact HS2 will have on Britain's countryside or the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people living along the route".
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