Pressure is being stepped up to provide a high speed rail link to Liverpool as part of HS2. A new report by think tank ResPublica argues that westward extension of the project’s second phase would help the city make its fullest possible contribution to the Northern Powerhouse.

 

Under the proposals Liverpool would be connected to the HS2 network via a dedicated high speed line and an adapted Lime Street Station.

 

This, the report suggests, would also represent the first stage of delivering ‘HS3’ to provide an east-west high speed rail route across the north of England from Liverpool to Hull.

 

Without some form of HS3 being delivered, the think tank suggests that HS2 will deliver lower and less geographically balanced economic returns.

 

“We believe that the possibility to directly connect Liverpool via a dedicated high speed line and track into the emerging high speed network is an opportunity which should not be missed,” the report says.

 

ResPublica also claims that the Liverpool City region could finance up to two thirds of the cost of building a high speed link to HS2 locally via retention of business rates and employer National Insurance contributions.

 

MP for Liverpool Riverside and Chair of the House of Commons Transport Select Committee Louise Ellman said: “Liverpool must benefit fully from the important national investment in HS2. These proposals are well thought out and must be seriously considered.”

 

North West Business Leadership Team chief executive Geoffrey Piper urged the Government and Transport for the North to support the proposal and said: “This link is crucial for maintaining Liverpool’s economic recovery and employment growth.”

 

MP for Wallasey and Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle said: “The Port of Liverpool’s freight potential and the dynamic business community in the city mean that businesses around the country will benefit from connecting Liverpool into the high speed rail network, and this report makes a powerful and incisive case for that investment.”

 

HS2 trains will serve Liverpool using the 'classic' rail network from 2026. A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “HS2 is a transformative transport investment that will benefit passengers across the North West, with high speed trains serving Liverpool from the day the Phase One route opens in 2026. This, together with our ambitious plans to transform east-west rail links through Northern Powerhouse Rail, will help deliver a rail revolution for Liverpool and the North.”

 

In other railway news it was announced yesterday that Crossrail is to be renamed the Elizabeth Line in honour of HM the Queen when services begin running beneath central London from December 2018.

 

(Photo: Elliot Brown and licensed for reuse under this Creative Common Licence)