HS2 chairman David Higgins has said construction work on the northern section of the £50 billion high-speed rail scheme should be brought forward to bring benefits to the north of England quicker.
In his latest report, delivered today in Manchester, Higgins said the second phase of the project, intended to take the line to northern England by 2033, should be completed by 2027.
Higgins, who was responsible for ensuring London’s Olympic Park was built on time and on budget, said a revised timetable could see a new “transport hub” opening in Crewe in 2027, connecting the high-speed line with services to the rest of the north west, Wales and Scotland.
The remaining links to Manchester and Leeds could then be completed as early as 2030, bringing the completion date for the whole project forward by three years, he said.
"There is a direct connection between the length of time the parliamentary process takes, and the amount of contingency that is required," Higgins said.
“It is the right strategic answer, and not just for the area around Crewe. It would also deliver the benefits of HS2 in terms of better services to the North much sooner,”
Higgins added the necessary legislation would not be a “lengthy process”.
The controversial project, which has come under fire from both political sides, is expected to link London to Birmingham by 2026, with tracks to cities including Leeds and Manchester built in a second phase, originally pencilled for completion by 2032-33.
In the report, HS2 Plus, Higgins called for "a more comprehensive development" of Euston station, which is HS2's London hub, and questioned plans to link it to the HS1 Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link at St Pancras.
"The current proposed HS1-HS2 link is, I believe, sub-optimal and should be reconsidered,” he said.
Higgins said HS2 was "vital for the future of the country" and said it could be "a catalyst for fundamental change".
He said the speed that HS2 was passing through the legislative process was "a risk", and urged legislators not to delay the project unduly.
"Infrastructure is critical to this nation. We can't have a log-jam of approvals process," he said.
Decade of chaos
Last week HS2 Alliance, a campaign group formed in 2010 to oppose Government proposals for the scheme, said rail services operating to and from London Euston will be “plunged into a decade of chaos” due to the planned HS2 scheme, according to documents it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
HS2 Action Alliance has obtained copies of notes and reports between rail operators, the DFT and Network Rail, which state that 40% of long-distance trains into Euston will be delayed if the scheme goes ahead.
The group’s head of PR and media Richard Houghton said as soon as work is started on the project it will “needlessly create the very sort of chaos and capacity crisis it is proposed to avoid”.
“It will put rail travel back 30 years,” said Houghton. He added Euston will be operating “on a knife-edge” with no room for error.