TRANSPORT | High Speed Rail

[Rusholme Ruffian]

Labour's response will be: "Nice policy, we'll take it thanks."

[M€trolink]

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....80_mins_pledge

'London in 80 mins' pledge
David Ottewell
29/ 9/2008


THE CONSERVATIVES have pledged to build a new £20bn high-speed rail link to whisk passengers from Manchester to London in just over an hour.

The route would allow the West Coast Main Line to be freed up for commuter journeys to towns like Macclesfield and replace a planned third runway at Heathrow airport - which would be scrapped.

Trains would run at up to 180mph and the fastest time to the capital would be slashed from the current 125mins to 80mins.

Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, described the announcement as a 'seriously green decision'.

She said: "A few years ago it would have been inconceivable for the leader of the Conservative party to say 'no' to a third runway and putting the brakes on Heathrow expansion."

The policy was due to be announced at the Tories' conference in Birmingham today (Monday).

Ms Villiers said a Conservative government would spend £15.6bn on the project between 2015 and 2027, with the private-sector contributing a further £4.4bn.

The aim is to cut 66,000 domestic flights a year at the west London airport.

Green pledge

The new line would be completely separate from the West Coast Main Line and would only link the major English cities.

The policy is intended to show the Conservatives have not abandoned their pledge to promote 'green' policies in the run-up to the next General Election.

Plans for a third Heathrow runway are hugely controversial. Big businesses say it is necessary to ease pressure on the airport, which carries 68 million passengers a year.

But green pressure groups claim it would have a huge impact on the environment and say less damaging alternatives should be explored.

The government is considering its response to public consultation on the plans.

Meanwhile, Tatton MP and shadow chancellor George Osborne was expected to savage Gordon Brown in his own keynote speech to the conference.

Mr Osborne was due to call for a 'wholly different' approach to Labour's amid growing financial turmoil.

The Conservatives' 'reconstruction plan', unveiled yesterday, would require governments to reduce nation debt.

Mr Osborne would also set up an independent Office for Budget Responsibility to keep track of the public finances and set out changes to tax and spending plans necessary to slash debt.

The Bank of England would also be given a bigger role in market oversight, with a new requirement on it to make regular assessments of the market-wide risk caused by debt.

That would be used by the Financial Services Authority in regulating lending by financial institutions.

Mr Osborne's speech comes with the economy at centre-stage amid the global financial crisis.

Addressing Tory delegates, Mr Osborne will mock Gordon Brown's demand for an end to what he last week called the 'age of irresponsibility'.

Mr Osborne will say: "I am not going to claim that this problem only exists in Britain or that it is all the fault of the current government. But nor am I going to let them forget who sat there in the Treasury for 10 years while the regulation failed, the debt soared and no one called time on the age of irresponsibility.

"The age of irresponsibility - who would have thought that the epitaph of the Brown years would be provided by the man himself?"

[M€trolink]

Wonder where the HSR would go in Manchester? We will not be the terminus as the line continues on to Leeds, so presumably a tunnel underneath Piccadilly (below Metrolink) could be an option.

Would be very deep though, but cannot think of anywhere in the city centre that would work.

Unless, they consider somewhere near Wastelands???

[The Longford]

Electioneering.
Empty promise.

[Mostly Lurking]

Originally Posted by M€trolink

Wonder where the HSR would go in Manchester? We will not be the terminus as the line continues on to Leeds, so presumably a tunnel underneath Piccadilly (below Metrolink) could be an option.

Would be very deep though, but cannot think of anywhere in the city centre that would work.

Unless, they consider somewhere near Wastelands???

They could always go into and back out of Piccadilly like a large number of TPE services do which terminate at the Airport.

[highriser]

Originally Posted by The Longford

Electioneering.
Empty promise.

My thoughts exactly

Tories ,,, blah blah blah blah

[Mez]

Full of shit. A bag of shite even.

[Caiman]

Originally Posted by The Longford

Electioneering.
Empty promise.

This.

[heatonparkincakes]

Back from a week grafting in poland and the irony wasnt lost on me.

As for the Tories promising a high speed train to the north. Make me laugh, make me smile. Hornby will be imprinted on the side of the box.

Everything that Gideon Osbourne has said recently suggest a very conservative fiscal policy that favours expenditure cuts, tax cuts and very little in the way of infrastrcuture investment.

So its typical lying bull shit.

[Mancunian Monkey]

They said it wouldn't even be built until 2027. 2027!!!

The odds of the Tories ever actually doing something for Manchester are comparable to me spontaneously turning into a carrot and then going on to be elected President of Turkmenistan.

[M€trolink]

To be fair, 2027 is about as early as it could possible be up and running (in this country) presuming they win in 2010.

[M€trolink]

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co....k_in_manifesto in the manifesto apparently.

Rail link in manifesto
David Ottewell
29/ 9/2008

A HIGH-speed rail line linking London and Manchester in just 80 minutes would unify the two cities' economies and bring new prosperity to the north, the Conservatives have claimed.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers told the MEN that plans for the £20bn line - revealed at the Tory conference - showed the Conservatives were 'the party to deliver good rail links to the north'.

"We understand that in many, many parts of the north people feel short-changed," she said.

"This would shorten the difference between the north and the south and help unify our economy. It would bring Manchester and surrounding areas into the same growth zone as the south east."

As reported in later editions of the MEN on Monday, Ms Villiers said the Conservatives wanted to build the new line, with trains running at up to 180mph, in return for scrapping the planned third runway at Heathrow airport.

It would link Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds directly with London and allow the West Coast Main Line to be used for commuter journeys to towns like Macclesfield.

Construction would begin in 2015 and the line would be finished by 2027. Ms Villiers rejected claims the project was not properly costed and would never see the light of day.

"It is going to be in the manifesto," she said.

"If we are elected as the next government we will give the go-ahead to this project.

"It is long term - there is no getting away from that - but if we never start it, it will never happen.

"MEN readers will be well aware that the West Coast Main Line is crowded at the moment and all the projections are it is going to be at breaking point by 2020.

"We would have to think about a new line anyway and a replacement would be only 30 per cent cheaper than a new high-speed line. "In that context is becomes obvious what the solution should be.

Economic advantages

"There are so many economic advantages to the country, and the north in particular. It would be environmentally positive and ease the pressure on the existing rail network."

Ms Villiers said the £20bn cost - £15.7bn from the public purse and £4.3bn from the private sector - was 'well within' existing government spending plans.

"The amount from the taxpayer - £1.3bn a year for 12 years - is about 25 per cent of what the government has pencilled in for capital spending on rail," she said. "It is something we can do."

The move was welcomed by environmental groups, with a spokesman for Friends of the Earth saying: "Scrapping airport expansion plans and investing in a fast and efficient railway network is essential if we are serious about tackling climate change."

But Ruth Kelly, the Bolton West MP and outgoing transport secretary, said that Heathrow would still be operating at 97 per cent capacity even if every flight to Manchester and Leeds was replaced by the train.

"These proposals are politically opportunistic, economically illiterate and hugely damaging to Britain's national interests," she said.

"The Tories are posing a false choice - we need both more capacity in Britain's airports and on our main rail lines."

Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrats' transport spokesman, said his party had long been calling for high-speed rail and the scrapping of the third runway at Heathrow. But he urged people to 'wait and see the small print' before deciding whether it was 'just another of David Cameron's empty promises'.

Ms Villiers also confirmed the Conservatives would 'abide by the result' of a referendum on a congestion charge in Greater Manchester.

The all-postal vote, to be held in December, will decide whether the region gets up to £3bn for public transport in return for the weekday, peak-time charge.

[thecityofgold]

This will never happen. It's a sad effort by the Tories to get some votes in the North. Headline grabbing, cynical, politicking.

By 2027 we'll have been through a minimum of 6 governments. In this country it is impossible for it to survive through that. In China it would get done but not here. Forward The Revolution!

[M€trolink]

If they do have the project started, as they say they will, by 2015 no government would cancel it.

The only question is can they be trusted?

[thecityofgold]

In a downturn it would be cancelled. The economic case for it would no longer be compelling, the future costs would be less than future benefits, a tax on walking would be the only way to fund it, children need bread.. Blah.. Blah..

Don't fall into the Cameroon trap.

[M€trolink]

You may well be right.

However, this is the first time ever in this country that any party has suggested building a HSR line north of London, that is a HUGE step forward.

Don't get me wrong, it will not be enough for me to vote Tory, however, if they do win it will be VERY interesting watching how this progresses.

This was a great announcement for the UK transport make no mistake, it raises the bar for both parties.

[thecityofgold]

Originally Posted by M€trolink

Y if they do win it will be VERY interesting watching how this progresses.

Substitute disappointing for interesting and I'd agree.

[M€trolink]

Originally Posted by thecityofgold

Substitute disappointing for interesting and I'd agree.

Don't get me wrong, I have watched Phase3 move slowly towards being built over 25 odd years, and we are still miles away.

Have a look back to the first post in this thread, I simply see this as the next step along the line of Manchester being connected by HSR trains to London, and onto Europe.

I am very dubious about it ever happening, and although I would be disappointed if these plans never happen, I will be glad that they have been aired and the plans have moved forward in this country from just being an idea banded around by lobby groups to finally being adopted by a political party as a good idea.

HSR may well never happen in my life time, however, the chances of it happening increased dramatically yesterday, even if it is not the next Tory government that deliver those plans.

[nicky2tu]

Originally Posted by M€trolink

You may well be right.

However, this is the first time ever in this country that any party has suggested building a HSR line north of London, that is a HUGE step forward.

Don't get me wrong, it will not be enough for me to vote Tory, however, if they do win it will be VERY interesting watching how this progresses.

This was a great announcement for the UK transport make no mistake, it raises the bar for both parties.

I totally agree with Metro here. What I liked about their proposal was that it recogonised that you cannot simply upgrade existing lines as they are limited by their dual use commuter/intercity use. You need to separate both on to their own infrastructure to improve both. Anyone who ever get a train from Manchester to Birmingham will understand why it takes over 100 minutes to do the trip - there is too much commuter traffic in the way and the service is pretty much run as a commuter service anyway. Same for trains to Leeds.

I'm not holding my breath here as the Tories are good at spotting weaknesses in things but useless at putting them right.

[andysimo123]

If the Government wanted they could get planning tomorrow and start building within 2/3 years but nothing in our country is simple. They'd be so much shit before it got the planning stages the French would have built the thing. I don't see why 2027 through Europe, Japan and other areas of the world have been running high speed trains since the 1970s. Even our side of the tunnel was a joke. The French had theirs up and running in no time. We were years behind!