Manchester's political leaders today met with businesses from across the North of England to explain the case for an underground through station at Manchester Piccadilly station – and the businesses backed the call.
Labour's Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, explained their view that a new underground Northern Powerhouse Rail-HS2 through station at Piccadilly is the best way to deliver high-speed rail.
At today's meeting with the Northern Powerhouse Project (NPP), which took place in Manchester, Burnham and Craig outlined the importance of an underground through station in determining connectivity and capacity levels for Manchester, the whole of the North of England, and for the whole of the UK..
NPP is made up of the North's leading businesses and has given its support for the proposal, which already has the support of Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Greater Manchester's Federation of Small Businesses.
HS2 will link London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester. The case for the underground through station is that it will enable seamless connection from HS2 to services in the rest of the north.
This contrasts with the government's current proposal for a Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) HS2 ‘turnback' station at Manchester Piccadilly, at which train services will terminate and then return in the direction they came from.
The political and business leaders believe that the government's current plan unnecessarily limits the potential to accommodate more trains once NPR and HS2 services are running in the future. They believe that an underground connection is essential for maximising both north-to-south and east-to-west and the infrastructure that can unlock future economic growth.
They point out that an underground NPR-HS2 station will also boost the Piccadilly area, supporting an estimated fourteen thousand jobs, new housing and around £333 million a year more in benefits the local economy by 2050 than the government's proposal for an overground turnback station.
Manchester City Council and others will to to Parliament to make the case for the underground station at Manchester Piccadilly to the High Speed Rail (Crewe-Manchester) Bill Select Committee from 12 June.
HS2 will reach Manchester as part of Phase 2b of the project, which was approved by Parliament in early 2022.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “In HS2 we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to deliver something truly transformational for Greater Manchester, the North and the whole of the country that will improve the lives of generations to come.
“But in its current form, HS2 does not do that. In order to truly maximise the benefits of high-speed rail between London and Manchester and future Northern Powerhouse Rail services, a through-station that unlocks seamless onward connections to the rest of the North at Manchester Piccadilly simply has to happen, and it needs to be connected directly to London Euston, not six miles out of the city.
“Government's current proposals for a turnback station on the surface will slow travel down and limit our ability to grow services in the future to support the greater connectivity and economic benefits HS2 should open up.
“Decisions made on HS2 now are absolutely vital to the future. I'm delighted, but unsurprised, that we can add the support of the North's leading businesses in the form of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, to the list of those backing an underground station at Piccadilly. Next week Greater Manchester will make this case strongly in Parliament, but ultimately it's the Government who need to get this right now in the best interests of our future.”
Leader of Manchester City Council Cllr Bev Craig, who is also Greater Manchester Lead for Economy, Business and Inclusive Growth, said: “HS2 will bring much-needed capacity to our creaking rail network and create enormous new opportunities. But an overground station with limited resilience and constrained scope for future growth would squander many of those potential positives.
“Our case, which I will be making in Parliament next week, is that a strategic rather than short-sighted view is needed which looks at the ongoing long-term benefits and not just the immediate investment required. If as a nation we get this critical infrastructure project wrong, we will be counting the costs for many decades to come.
“After decades of transport underinvestment, the North deserves better.”
Henri Murison, Chief Executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “We have got to choose the North's long-term prosperity and ambition over short-term cost cutting.
“An underground station would unlock additional land in the city centre, enable a deliverable through-route for Northern Powerhouse Rail towards Yorkshire and ultimately deliver a far higher return for the taxpayer.
“Equally as important is ensuring we get a fair deal for the high-speed station at Manchester Airport, which government is asking the local public sector to fund – unlike the station at Birmingham Airport. We need a serious conversation about funding options for both stations, including a development corporation to maximise the number of homes we can deliver in and around Greater Manchester.
It will be expensive, but it’s only money, taxpayers’ money . . .