YES to High Speed Rail

The Case for HSR
Bringing Britain Closer Together

About High Speed Rail

The Government is proposing to construct a new “Y-shaped” network of high speed rail lines, with an initial line between London and the West Midlands and onward legs subsequently being built to Leeds and Manchester. This would allow increased speeds of up to 250 mph and halve many journey times across the country.

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The case for high speed rail

Only a new line can offer the capacity needed to meet long rising trends of increased demand for long distance rail, freight and commuting. Without it, the West Coast Main Line, East Coast and Midland Main Lines will become severely congested, holding back the wider economy.

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Building the economy

The Government’s conservative business case suggests £43.7bn in net benefits in contrast to £17.1bn in net costs. However, this doesn’t take into account many other wider economic benefits that are harder to quantify. High speed rail would make it easier for companies to network, recruit workers, find customers, specialise and become more productive.

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Bringing Britain closer together

The network can help tackle the north-south divide by providing greater connections to London and internationally; allowing firms and cities to specialise and serve larger markets; and by providing opportunities for redevelopment around areas such as Birmingham Eastside.

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Making passengers lives easier

A new high speed rail network will free up capacity on existing lines which will make local journeys for many quicker and more frequent – this will help communities and be particularly useful on those lines which are very congested like the West Coast mainline. It is estimated that some of Britain’s key rail routes will be completely full during peak times in the next 20 years.

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Myth busting

Many objections to the line are overstated: the estimates for demand are not unrealistic; the UK is not too small; businessmen working on laptops don’t destroy the business case; there are no other alternatives which provide nearly as much capacity; there is no reason to assume that the project will run over budget and behind schedule.

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Join the campaign!

As we await the announcement of the route for the second phase of HS2 (to Leeds and Manchester), join us by clicking on the link below.

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Read More About HSR

You can read more about high-speed rail by exploring the following links:

Myth Busting

Many popular objections to the line are overstated.

  • Is there enough demand?
  • Doesn’t the internet mean we don’t need to travel so much?
  • Isn’t the UK too small to benefit?”

Read Our FAQ

The correct choice is obvious; we need to invest in a new high-speed rail network for Britain. Professor David Begg