MPs have been ‘vindicated’ after ministers agreed to look again at key elements of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands (IRP), including the decision to drop a planned new rail link to Bradford, a senior MP has said.
The Transport Select Committeehas published the Department for Transport’s (DfT) delayed response to its 2022 report on the 2021 IRP, which included northern sections of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).
In its response to the committee’s call for robust re-assessment of all the NPR options, the DfT said an updated business case for the project, expected later this year, will include ‘updated analysis on a range of different network options’ including the impact on places like Bradford.
Image: Bradford Council
The IRP controversially omitted plans for a new line through, and station in, Bradford. In its response to the committee, the DfT said: ‘A re-assessment of the evidence for better connecting Bradford and the case for a new station will now form part of the NPR development programme and the HS2 to Leeds Study.’
The DfT also said the terms of reference for a study on how best to take HS2 trains to Leeds, which the committee had called for ‘urgently’ last year, will be published before the summer recess.
The study, which could take 18 months to complete, will also include an updated benefit-cost ratio for the Eastern leg of HS2 Phase 2b, which had been shortened to terminate at East Midlands Parkway.
The Committee pointed out that it had been critical of the Government for taking such a major decision before undertaking such analysis.
The committee had argued that DfT had not properly tested alternative options and left out analysis of wider economic ‘levelling up’ impacts of different options for NPR. This meant that value for money between those options could not be compared and validated. In its response the Government said such studies will be undertaken as part of its Leeds to HS2 Study, and as it produces the new business case for NPR.
Committee chair Iain Stewart MP said: ‘The main arguments of the Committee’s report have been vindicated as the Government has accepted that more work is needed on key elements of the Integrated Rail Plan – its cost-benefit ratios, contributions to levelling up, and projections on shortening journey times. We welcome those elements of the response, even though we regret this work was not completed before the major strategic decisions in the IRP were taken.
‘We are particularly glad to see DfT taking an open-minded approach to building a new station at Bradford – sometimes dubbed the most badly connected city in the UK – and doing more analysis of a range of different network options.'
The Committee had said it was concerned that projections for shorter journey times from NPR might prove overly optimistic. The Government has said that new advice on journey times will be ‘refined’ as it undertakes further work on business cases.
The Committee had also expressed concern that a ‘fixation’ on journey time reductions was overshadowing the issue of track capacity, as opting for upgrades over building new lines would limit benefits. This was not addressed directly in the Government’s response.
The DfT also confirmed there is still no alternative plan to the Golborne Link, a section of HS2 that would have connected Crewe with the West Coast Mainline to Scotland.
Register now for full access
Register just once to get unrestricted, real-time coverage of the issues and challenges facing UK transport and highways engineers.
Full website content includes the latest news, exclusive commentary from leading industry figures and detailed topical analysis of the highways, transportation, environment and place-shaping sectors.
Use the link below to register your details for full, free access.
Already a registered? Login
