THE frequency of trains at some provincial stations could almost double once HS2 has opened, according to the transport secretary.
Mr Hammond was responding to claims from the Taxpayers’ Alliance earlier this week that a new High Speed line would mean worse services on existing ‘classic’ routes.
He said in fact the opposite was the case: removing longer-distance traffic to the High Speed line would free capacity for more regional and commuter services, not only into London but also provincial centres such as Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, especially once the second phase had been built from Birmingham northwards.
Some of the suggested improvements are almost 90 per cent more trains from Milton Keynes Central, 46 per cent from Northampton and 80 per cent from stations on the Trent Valley line such as Tamworth and Lichfield.
Mr Hammond is reported to have said: “Our proposed new HSR network would free up a huge amount of space on current railways for more trains to operate.
“Building a whole new line would create scope for people who live near the current stations to get more frequent services that are less crowded - I would also hope that this additional competition could mean cheaper fares as well.”
Meanwhile, in a House of Commons debate yesterday, several MPs hit back at accusations of ‘nimby’ motives among the opponents to HS2.
The Conservative MP for Tamworth Christopher Pincher said: “My constituents are not nimbys. They tell me that if it can be demonstrably proven that the business case stacks up, if there are proper mitigations in place and if they get fair and reasonable compensation for the loss they suffer, they will, through gritted teeth, accept the proposal. The trouble is that the business case has not been proven, mitigations are not yet known – the route was announced last December but in the Tamworth area we are still waiting for a roadshow, which we will not get until June – and, although we have had hints about compensation for blight, we still do not know anything about what we might get. People are understandably very concerned.”
Later in the same debate, transport minister Theresa Villiers responded to her opponents by insisting that HS2 must go ahead.
“Perhaps most important is that delivering a major uplift in inter-urban transport capacity is not some nice-to-have luxury,” she said.
She continued: “It is absolutely essential if we are to prevent a capacity crisis on the West Coast line and other key transport corridors in the years to come. No Government can afford to sit back, ignore the problem, and pretend that it does not exist.”