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The northern leg of HS2 should be replaced with a cheaper version on the same route, according to the interim findings of a privately-backed review conducted by two city mayors in England.
Experts appointed by the leaders of the West Midlands and Greater Manchester have concluded that a new line is still needed to fill the “missing” transport link between the city's two largest areas outside the capital.
They said the existing M6 motorway and west coast railway lines would not be able to meet demand.
Britain's proposed high-speed rail line was significantly scaled back in October when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped its northern section, arguing that the £36bn cost would be better spent on local transport projects.
The decision sparked protests among northern leaders, while Parliament's Public Accounts Committee later concluded that the remaining London to Birmingham section of the HS2 system now offered “extremely poor value for money” without its northern leg.
In response to the decision, West Midlands Conservative Mayor Andy Street and Greater Manchester Labor Mayor Andy Burnham commissioned a review of potential alternatives that could be partly funded by the private sector.
That review, chaired by former non-executive chairman of HS2, Sir David Huggins, provisionally concluded that the best alternative would be a high-speed line along roughly the same route.
I found that doing nothing was not an option, given the congestion facing the M6 and the parallel railway route in the 2030s.
Instead, the new railway line should run 70 miles from Handsaker, north of Birmingham, to High League, near Manchester Airport, along roughly the same route as the original HS2 proposal but with a cheaper specification.
“Although the results are only preliminary, it is clear that the new line between Handsaker and Manchester Airport is the best option for improving connectivity, and the most attractive option for significant private sector involvement,” Street said in the review conducted by the companies. Including Arup, Arcadis, Mace and EY.
The costs of the replacement line could be covered “through a combination of government and private funding, with payment through access or user fees on the new line,” according to a statement from the mayors.
The review is now analyzing potential public-private financing models, such as those used to finance France's high-speed TGV line between Paris and Bordeaux.
The full audit report is expected to be submitted later this year.
