FEATURE
ENTERPRISE & INNOVATION
Making HS2 work for the Midlands
By Maria Machancoses (pictured), Midlands Connect
Back in July I stood in front of more than 200 people at Millennium Point, in Birmingham, overlooking the construction site of the new HS2 station at Curzon Street, and launched Midlands Connect’s latest report, Our Routes to Growth. The investment and opportunity
already evident in this once neglected part of the city centre is being driven by HS2. But how do we make sure the
economic benefits are felt across the Midlands; not just around the sites of HS2 stations like the East Midlands Hub at Toton, but in cities like Derby, Nottingham and Leicester that are ready to benefit from the prosperity that comes with better connectivity? This is where Midlands Connect comes in.
SHARING THE WEALTH Widening access to HS2’s affordable rapid mass transit
services, and ensuring complimentary infrastructure around HS2 stations to maximise economic growth, are among Midlands Connect’s top priorities. We’re determined to make sure expanding services on the existing network compliment new HS2 trains. With the right planning, the possibilities for economic growth are almost endless. Professional services jobs are
powering the Midlands economy, and with it the demand for rail travel to access those jobs is growing. I see this almost every day as I travel around the region. But, at peak times, there are more people travelling on trains than there are seats. New HS2 services will help
relieve some of this pressure, but it must go hand in hand with increasing capacity on the local and regional network. That’s where our Midlands Rail Hub proposals come
‘The Midlands Rail Hub could boost the UK economy by £649m every year, by allowing the East and West Midlands to operate more closely as a single economic power’
in. With a few strategic interventions, like new track and passing places, improved junctions and signals, longer platforms and some minor electrification, we can boost capacity and attract six million new passengers each year. Thirty-six new freight paths through the Midlands will also shift the equivalent of 4,320 lorries from road to rail each day. Investing in this new
infrastructure will add 24 new passenger services every hour, with faster and more frequent trains bringing the East and West Midlands much closer together. There’s a huge economic prize at
stake. The Midlands Rail Hub could boost the UK economy by £649m
every year, by allowing the East and West Midlands to operate more closely as a single economic power. The concept is simple; if you make it easier for people and businesses to come together, good things will happen. The Midlands Rail Hub brings 1.6
million more people within an hour’s travel time of our major towns and cities, massively increasing access to jobs. It should be possible for towns and cities less than 50 miles apart to be commutable. In many cases, the Midlands Rail Hub will make that vision a reality. HS2 has its own transformational
role to play in widening the pool of skills for businesses to draw upon.
52 business network October 2018
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