Today was the second day of the court proceedings brought against the Government by opponents of HS2. In response to claims by opponents of HS2 that trains are leaving Euston station only half full at peak time, Pete Waterman, pop mogul and high-speed rail supporter, said:

“I travel at peak time. I don’t recognise these “half full” trains that opponents of HS2 are talking about. When I get on my train at Crewe they’re full to standing. I don’t know what trains opponents of HS2 are travelling on, but they aren’t the same packed trains that commuters along the West Coast mainline are sadly all too familiar with”.

Notes

1. The Campaign for High Speed Rail is the national campaign supported by businesses, industury and trade unions across the UK. You can learn more about the campaign on our website: www.campaignforhsr.com
2. We have spokespeople available for interview upon request. For more information or to arrange an interview please call Lucy James on 07758 019 351 or email lucy@campaignforhsr.com.

ENDS

In response Lucy James, Director of the Campaign for High Speed Rail, said:

“HS2 will completely change the shape of this country, shrinking the distances between our key cities and boosting the economic productivity of the UK. It is the biggest single infrastructure investment of our generation and so it is essential that we make the right choices and build the best infrastructure we possibly can.

“At a time when businesses in the North want reassurances that they can start investing on the back of HS2, and want to see the jobs HS2 will start to create, any delays to the building of the project will only serve to stall progress and will undermine the growth of our national economy.

“What we all need to remember is that these legal proceedings are challenges to the process rather than to the validity of the scheme itself. These court proceedings are a sign that we live in a healthy democracy but any stalling on the building of HS2 is only going to cost this country time and money”.

Notes

1. The Campaign for High Speed Rail is the national campaign supported by businesses, industury and trade unions across the UK. You can learn more about the campaign on our website: www.campaignforhsr.com

2. We have spokespeople available for interview upon request. For more information or to arrange an interview please call Lucy James on 07758 019 351 or email lucy@campaignforhsr.com.

ENDS

The challenge is, of course, that the project is currently in the hands of engineers who are meeting tough targets to draft materials necessary for a Hybrid Bill process that begins next year.  Passengers are not, currently, getting much of a look in (though Peter Nock, the passenger guru at HS2Ltd, spoke with great vision about the work he is doing in this area).

Our four speakers spoke provocatively about the challenge of anticipating passenger behaviours in ten years in a fast-moving world. On questions like the importance of reliability, frequency and affordability, there was naturally a high-degree of consensus. But on questions like price regulation, walk-on versus pre-booking, international travel, the early involvement of operators, marginal pricing,  and open access there were heated debates. Was it a glorified tube train or a plane with tracks? These are areas of important debate and, as one of the speakers was at pains to point out, no arrangement overseas can present a direct correlation.

I have already written a piece here covering this area, but I found the debate last night brought alive several key points. Of particular interest for my part was the question of how we sell this project to the British public.

In the post-event Green Room dinner there was a discussion about the construction of Crossrail, the Channel Tunnel and HS1, and the measures required to address local, parliamentary and industry issues. Times have changed and this HS2 project is of an altogether bigger size than those projects. Despite the scale, support currently rests on very narrow shoulders, mainly in Westminster, and public understanding of the value of the project could easily sour – our polling suggests very few businesses understand how the investment can help build jobs and prosperity.

Therefore, there is are four pressing reasons why we have to address the question of how high-speed rail will meet the future needs of Britain’s passengers in the immediate future.

To build the understanding and anticipation required for the project to meet its commercial targets we need sow the seeds needed to hard-wire high-speed rail into the mind-set of the travelling public as soon as possible.

To bring forward investment in stations, networked travel and regeneration, we need to build confidence that there will be a passenger demand.

We need to inform decisions about delicate subjects like regulation, cross-ticketing arrangements and track access so that we do not close the door on critical opportunities.

And we need to inspire opinion-formers during a time of fragile public support during the passage of the hybrid bill.

To achieve these objectives, speakers called for a passenger task force. It could consider a combination of future passenger trends and comparisons with other countries (including Brazil where the track operating contract is being issued before the construction of the track in order to hard-bake passenger priorities into the project from the beginning).

We hope that the Government and HS2Ltd will consider this suggestion seriously.

The Campaign for High Speed Rail last night called for HS2 to be “the people’s train” at an event with vocal commentary from rail operators, passenger groups and other leading members of industry.

The event, the first of a series of policy forums on high-speed rail (a), looked at the “passenger experience” on HS2 and featured high-profile speakers from the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), Passenger Focus, SNCF Voyages and HS2 Ltd (b).

HS2 will bring a vast increase in capacity and high frequency services (c) and it is essential that its future passengers are put at the centre of policy development. In order to make the most of the benefits to passengers that HS2 could bring, the campaign has called for:

1. The creation of a passenger taskforce for HS2

2. A vision for low fares that makes HS2 accessible to a broad-base of passengers

3. Integrated through-ticketing to create seamless journeys across all modes of transport

4. An approach to regulation that could enable competition between operators

James Bethell, Director of the Campaign for High Speed Rail, said:

“From 2026 we will see a vast increase in capacity along the spine of our country, with a train leaving Euston station heading north every four minutes.

“To make the most of these opportunities, we call on the Government to start work today in pulling together a passenger taskforce to start to establish the sorts of services and fare structures that passengers want to see.

“We have the potential to deliver an infrastructure project that transforms the social and economic geography of this country.  With the right planning and vision, HS2 can be “the people’s train” that will revolutionise the way people travel in this country”.

Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of Passenger Focus, said:

‘It is never too early to start thinking about the potential customer experience even if  a new high speed railway line is years away. Then the services can be put together with a passenger focus right from the start – crucial if new passengers are going to be attracted to using the line. Are high speed passengers’ needs different from other passengers? What does the current research tell us?’

Fabrice Morel, Director of International Development at SNCF Voyages, said:

“In a context of ever higher infrastructure building costs increasing the stakes in getting it right, early involvement of an experienced rail operator in the design of a new high-speed rail system would ensure trickle down benefits for passengers after the launch of services, both in terms of operational excellence and fare affordability.

“The first high-speed rail lines in France showcased this and in Brazil, for example, a tender is about to be launched for a new high-speed line in which the operator will be selected first and tasked among other things with specifying what infrastructure will need to be built.”

Notes to Editors

a.       The policy forums are designed to broaden the debate around high-speed rail and provide headline policy points for HS2 Ltd, industry and businesses to develop in future, more detailed discussions. To be put on the list for future events, please email events@westbournecoms.com.
b.       The full list of speakers at the event is: Tom Smith, Chairman of ATOC; Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of Passenger Focus; Fabrice Morel, Director of International Development, SNCF Voyages; Peter Nock, Operational Concepts Manager at HS2 Ltd; James Bethell, Director of the Campaign for High Speed Rail.
c.       HS2 will create over 15,000 additional seats along the spine of our country in each direction, every hour, with a train with over a thousand seats leaving the station every 4 minutes. This is in addition to the capacity and services on the existing network. For more details click here and here.

Contact

For interviews with the Campaign for High Speed Rail, or any of the speakers at the event, please call Lucy James on 020 3397 0100 or email lucy.james@westbournecoms.com.

ENDS

“The public should be reassured by today’s Government announcement on the proposed property compensation package for residents living along the route of HS2. The Government promised that they would secure a good deal for homeowners and, in comparison to previous schemes, it appears that the Department for Transport have managed to negotiate good terms with the Treasury. It is welcome news for homeowners, and it should give the public confidence when it comes to the Government’s ability to deliver on other aspects of HS2.”

Following the BBC Newsnight interview with Cheryl Gillian MP, the Campaign for High Speed Rail sent the following letter to BBC Newsnight:

“Dear Mr Rippon

I am writing on behalf of the Campaign for High Speed Rail to lodge a complaint with regards to the interview with Cheryl Gillan MP on BBC Newsnight on Thursday 4^th October 2012.

The coverage was completely unbalanced, and it displayed a failure on the BBC’s part to discharge its responsibility as a public service broadcaster.

First, the interview with Cheryl Gillian took place in the studio with no opposing voice to balance the fiercely anti-HS2 views being articulated by the interviewee.

Secondly, the “hook” on which the interview was based – the DfT’s awarding of the West Coast Main Line franchise and its relation to the case for HS2 – was inadequately covered during the interview.

The show’s presenter, Kirsty Wark, failed to sufficiently question the presumption made by Ms Gillian that the fiasco around the West Coast franchise, in Gillan’s words, “reads across directly into HS2.” As a result, Ms Gillan’s presumption remained largely unchallenged.

Remedy

There are numerous pro-high speed rail spokespeople which the BBC could have invited into the studio to balance the MP’s arguments. Indeed, HS2 receives vocal support from businesses, unions, members of the public, industry and political circles across the UK.

The campaign’s Professor David Begg was interviewed in the introductory clip “as balance” prior to the interview with Cheryl Gillan, but it was a ten-second, highly edited piece. To achieve actual balance, Professor Begg or another leading HS2 supporter should have been invited into the studio to balance the views of Ms Gillan.

Please get in touch with the campaign in future to ensure that there is balance when covering stories on HS2.

Yours sincerely

Lucy James

Director, Campaign for High Speed Rail”

The Campaign was pleased to hear the new Transport Secretary once again emphasising his ardent commitment to building the “Y” network.

Speaking in front of the Conservative Party Conference, Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin MP, said the following:

“ I will be cracking on with HS2…. We cannot afford not to build it.

“At the start of this year, the government committed to building a new line not just to Birmingham but on to Manchester and Leeds.

“Soon, I’ll publish detailed plans for the route north of Birmingham. But I want even more parts of our country to benefit.

“So we’re launching a study on the way to get fast journeys further north still. With the aim of getting the journey from Scotland to London to under three hours. And making sure the north-east benefits too.”

We will be posting the Transport Secretary’s comments in full once the transcript becomes avaliable.

““The Department for Transport is being judicially reviewed over HS2. At the moment, all accusations made against the business case are purely opportunistic and ultimately the courts will decide.

“The high levels of growth that have already taken place on the West Coast Main Line mean that we have no choice but to address the looming capacity crunch, else we risk fundamentally damaging our train network and stunting economic growth.

“Whilst there is a lot of speculation and debate around the most appropriate transport planning models, and whilst it is important that they are robust, we cannot deny the macro-economic fact that we need to boost connectivity to drive the UK’s economy growth.”

Notes

1. The Campaign for High Speed Rail is the national campaign supported by businesses, industury and trade unions across the UK. You can learn more about the campaign on our website: www.campaignforhsr.com
2. We have spokespeople available for interview upon request. For more information or to arrange an interview please call Lucy James on 07758 019 351 or email lucy@campaignforhsr.com.

ENDS

The report, conducted by HS2 North West, looks into the alternative to HS2 as proposed by 51M. It concludes that ultimately the majority of West Coast services would suffer if the proposal was chosen instead of building HS2. Providing more services and using longer and heavier trains on the WCML will have a detrimental effect on reliability.

HS2 North West made a number of key findings, for instance:

- A number of towns and cities, such as Warrington, Wigan and Liverpool would see a reduction in services despite claims by 51M that their alternative would provide more capacity.

- Beyond the suggestion that longer 12 car Pendolino trains be introduced, there would be no extra capacity gains.

- 51M have failed to factor in £300m worth of re-modelling works that would have to be carried out at various stations in order to accommodate longer trains.

- Capacity gains could be as low as 15% for a cost of at least £2.6 billion.

The report reinforces the message that HS2 is essential to the future of the UK rail network.

The report can be found here.

A new report has been released today that concludes that HS2 has the potential to contribute towards the reduction of carbon emissions in the UK. The report, The Carbon Impacts of High Speed 2, is produced by Greengauge 21 in conjunction with The RSPB, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and the Campaign for Better Transport.

In response to the report, Lucy James, Director of The Campaign for High Speed Rail, said:

“As well as creating jobs and boosting the UK economy, this report illustrates that HS2 has the potential to help the UK’s green agenda. For example, HS2 has the potential to take cars and lorries off our congested road network, and reduce the need for domestic flights.

“This report reinforces the need for joined-up thinking on transport policy so that we fully maximise the wide-reaching benefits that a high-speed network can have for this country.

“It is encouraging to see leading environmental groups, such as the RSPB and the Campaign to Protect Rural England, recognise that HS2 has an important role to play tackling carbon emissions.”