Our webpage on High Speed Rail (HS2)
Quick Link to CPRE National Office's page on High Speed Rail (18.03.10)
Quick Link to Press Release on High Speed Rail (HS2) issued before the report was published (10.03.10)
The West Midlands region is at the centre of the railway network but CPRE believes there has not been adequate investment in improving the rail system across the region.
Railways cannot provide all our transport solutions and the workhorse of our local transport will always be the bus, however they are important both for regional and local, particularly commuter, travel.
Investing in our railways can also improve the image of the places they serve.
We would like to see railways in the region run to a high level of punctuality and safety with modern rolling stock, but we would also like to see significant expansion of services and the reopening of disused lines.
We are concerned that the local rail network should not be seen solely as bringing people into Birmingham. We would like to see a renaissance of the rail network through the Black Country (revitalising the Walsall and Wolverhampton hubs) including a new strategic route from Lichfield-Walsall-Stourbridge reducing pressure on Birmingham New Street. We were disappointed that services to Stafford and Wolverhampton from Walsall were cut at the end of 2008 and believe this is short-sighted.
Electrification of lines such as Birmingham-Nuneaton and expansion of lines such as Worcester-Hereford (to two tracks) and reintroducing through services (for example from Shrewsbury to London) could also play a key role in making our railways better.
There are also opportunities for increasing freight by rail and CPRE has supported investment to increase line capacity for freight in the region.
Some investment will take time but there is a lot we can do immediately, lengthening trains and platforms, for example, to provide capacity and reduce over-crowding.
We believe it is essential that railways are supported with adequate continued funding. We believe improving local and branch services must be a priority and while we would like to see improved intercity connections these should not be at the expense of local rail.
In particular we support the aspiration for a High Speed Rail network, but are concerned that it is properly linked into the local network, that the route minimises damage to the countryside and that it doesn’t come at the expense of investing in local rail. Experience suggests that without links into areas needing regeneration a High Speed Rail network could exacerbate problems of development in the countryside.
We are particularly concerned about where a High Speed Rail station might be located. It is important that any route accesses the centre of the conurbation. There are risks that a parkway station would generate car travel from around the region and encourage new development on green field sites around the station.
27.11.09 |
