Category Archives: Hs2 to Crewe

New report on ‘fast-tracking prosperity in the North-West and Midlands’ with Hs2 phase 2a

10 Tuesday Apr 2018

Posted by in Crewe Hub, Hs2, Hs2 to Crewe, Rail Investment

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Yesterday I was in Crewe to attend the launch of a new report into how the Midlands and North-West can unlock the economic and transport opportunities presented by phase 2a of Hs2 which is due to reach Crewe by 2026. The report was commissioned by the High Speed Rail Industry Leaders group (HSRIL). You can download it from the website via this link.

 

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Guests at the launch of the report included Councillor Rachel Bailey, Leader of Cheshire East Council. Councillor Paul Yates, Leader of Crewe Town Council. Phillip Cox, CEO of Cheshire and Warrington LEP.  Paul Colman, CEO of South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce and Jims Steer of Greengauge 21 which authored the report. 

 

The report outlines how, when Sir David Higgins became Hs2 Ltd’s Chairman in 2014 he suggested accelerating Phase 2, bringing the line to Crewe 6 years earlier than planned (to 2027 from 2033). This resulted in the Government agreeing to bring forward a second Hybrid Bill for what became known as Hs2 Phase 2a. In January, the bill passed 2nd reading by an overwhelming majority (295 to 12 against).

Another chapter of the report deals with the Crewe Hub scheme, which was agreed by the Government in March 2018. In the past there were several different proposals for Crewe. At one time Network Rail were suggesting building a new station further South on the site of the Basford Hall marshalling yard. This met with local political opposition.

In July 2017 the Government published a consultation on the idea of the Crewe hub. The outcome was published on March 9th

Now the Crewe hub scheme has agreement from all sides. It doesn’t form part of the Hs2 Phase 2a Hybrid Bill, instead it’ll be created through a partnership of Network Rail, Cheshire East Council and Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Council (LEP).

The plan is to create a strategic interchange that will allow the whole of Cheshire, North Staffordshire, North Wales and the Mersey-Dee area to benefit from Hs2 at the earliest opportunity. In total, this sub-region has a population of more than 1.5 million whilst around 5 million live within an hour of the station. It’s worth remembering that by 2013/14, Crewe accounted for more London-bound passengers than Warrington, Stafford, Chester or Stafford, yet the facilities don’t measure up. In 2016-17 the station was used by 3.086 million people, plus an additional 1.476 million interchange passengers.

The redesigned station would allow 400m long Hs2 trains to divide and join at Crewe. Service plans aren’t yet finalised but options suggested are for one set serving Lancaster/Preston and another Stoke-on-Trent (and possibly Macclesfield, Stockport and Manchester) to split/join at Crewe, thus only using one Euston path instead of two.

The locations for the 400m platforms are on two sites. One would be an extension of the existing platform 5, the other proposal would be a platform on the Manchester Independent (freight) lines to the West of the existing station although Network Rail are  examining if reinstating the old platform 13 would be an affordable alternative as this would address concerns by freight operators worried that paths through the area may be lost.

In order to link the different sites together and make the station a modern gateway to the town the plan is to build a transfer deck across the site. Grimshaw Architects have been looking at a design for the new station which will keep and enhance the historic parts of the site whilst sweeping away much of the later clutter. At the moment station access is limited and causes traffic congestion as most people use the entrance from the Nantwich Rd over bridge which is a busy link road and the only one across the site. Station car parking is also an issue as the main station car-park is North-West of the site, where the old Crewe North Loco shed was. The plan would include moving this to the Eastern side of the station in a new multi-storey car park, freeing up the Nantwich Rd bridge for other traffic. The transfer deck would create a new link from Weston Rd on the East and (possibly) Gresty Rd and the Crewe Alexandra football ground on the West.

 

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After the launch, guests were given a guided tour of the station to see what works were proposed. 

 

The consultation also agreed a change to the design of the southern connection from HS2, so that HS2 joins (and takes over) the central two lines on the existing network.

The report also mentions that a junction north of Crewe, enabling HS2 trains to call at Crewe and then re-join the HS2 main line, as part of Phase 2b would be needed to allow Crewe station to support the Constellation Partnership’s ambition of 5–7 HS2 trains per hour calling at Crewe and frequencies of 3-4 trains per hour on each of the regional links.

Included in the report are details of the economic appraisal.

economic appraisal

There’s also potential service patterns.

scen 1

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I’m not going to go into all the economic data contained in the report as I’m concentrating more on the rail aspects, but it does contain details of the Northern Gateway Development Zone and business opportunities and development as well as plans to create 100,000 new homes and 120,000 jobs.

The report’s a useful document for drawing together the ambitious plans for the Crewe hub and the benefits Hs2 phase 2a brings, not just to Crewe but also to the routes that radiate from the station. Work is expected to begin and be funded from Network Rail’s control period CP6 (2019-2024) as most of what is proposed is within the existing railway footprint.

It’s great to see that, after all the years of wrangling over the future of the station, Hs2 has provided a catalyst that’s brought the parties together around a firm proposal. As someone who’s known Crewe station since the early 1970s and watched its decline all the way through the 1990s to the present I’m looking forward to the new plans coming to fruition.

Hs2 Phase 2a. The petitions are in…

15 Thursday Mar 2018

Posted by in Hs2, Hs2 petitions, Hs2 to Crewe

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Now I’m back from India I’ve had time to catch up on what’s been going on whilst I’ve been away and one of those things is the petitioning process for Hs2 Phase 2a from Birmingham to Crewe. The closing date for petitions was the 28th February and a total of 188 were received by the deadline. You can find copies of them on the Committee website here. If you want to follow the process of the bill, here’s a link to the Committee’s website.

Contrast 188 with the number of petitions received on Hs2 Phase 1 – 1,925!

Interestingly, of the 188 petitions, only 5 identify themselves as Hs2 ‘Action’ groups, which says a lot about how the Stophs2 campaign’s collapsed. I can’t see the Committee getting bogged down here as the quality of the petitions varies enormously. Some are very straightforward. The petition from Antoinette Sandbach, the MP for Eddisbury, mentions a single issue – compensation for tenants. Other petitions raise genuine questions and concerns over compensation, noise or mitigation. Some mention the scope of compulsory purchase powers whilst others are aggrieved and make impossible asks. But one stands out head and shoulders above the rest – the petition from the grandly titled “Madeley Independent Residents Stop Hs2 Action Group”. It’s an absolute pearler, a rambling opus full of bluster and threats, dodgy statistics and repetitive demands for legal aid. Here’s a few samples of the tone and content!

Madely 1

Err, you demand funding – and legal aid, but you’ll have the money to ‘construct costly civil cases against Hs2’? Righto…Madely 2

 

madeley 3

madeley 4

I’m sure the 5 MPs on the Committee will be very impressed by this petition!

Those MPs are;

James Duddridge (Con, Rochford & Southend East). Chair of the Committee

Sandy Martin (Lab, Ipswich)

Sheryll Murray (Con, SE Cornwall)

Martin Whitfield (Lab, East Lothian)

Bill Wiggin (Con, N Herefordshire.)

Oddly enough, StopHs2 have never even thought to mention any of this. Gone are the days when they used to issue ‘advice’ on the petitioning process or generally crow about their influence. Mind, you, they have little to crow about. They’ve only managed one post to their website this month and that was a whinge about music!

Meanwhile, Stophs2’s latest doomed petition has 6 days left before it runs out of time. In 175 days it’s managed to gather 28,523 signatures, leaving to find 71,478 or 11,913 each and every day until March 21st! There’s more chance of Lord Lucan being found riding Shergar!

The anti Hs2 campaign’s struggling to go out with as much as a wimper…

UPDATE. 19th March 2018

The Committee started sitting today and heard evidence from both Hs2 Ltd’s QC’s and also Professor Andrew McNaughton. One snippet that came up was when Timothy Mould QC mentioned that a total of 26 of the 188 petitions would have their Locus Standi (right to be heard) challenged.

 

 

 

 

 

Hs2 to Crewe and Manchester. Where’s the opposition?

04 Sunday Feb 2018

Posted by in Hs2, Hs2 to Crewe, Mid Cheshire against Hs2, Rail Investment, StopHs2, Transport

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It’s now the best part of a week since the Hs2 Phase 2a Hybrid Bill sailed past its 2nd reading in the House of Commons by 295 votes to 12. I’ve been crunching the numbers on the latest Stophs2 petition so I thought I’d take a look to see if this has galvanised opposition to Hs2 along the Manchester route. The answer is – anything but. Here’s a spreadsheet examining signatures to the petition allocated by constituency.  I’ve data going back to November but this snapshot goes back to a few days before the bill had its 2nd reading – along with totals for December and January.

phase 2

The first five constituencies on the list are on the Phase 2 a route and the numbers are lousy, the ‘best’ (Lichfield) has only just managed to get over a third of one percent. It’s slightly behind the overall best which is Tatton with a measly 0.35% of constituents. The petition’s doomed of course, but it does provide an interesting snapshot of feelings along the route and provides an indicator of where the ‘active’ Stophs2 action groups are. They’re few and far between – and nothing in the Greater Manchester area at all.

Here’s what passes for an active group – Mid Cheshire against Hs2 (link). Don’t bother clicking on the ‘events’ section of their website ‘cos there’s nothing there! It’s the same with their Facebook page. Googling them doesn’t reveal any activity either other than moaning to newspapers!

Meanwhile, what of the MPs along the route? Well, of the five phase 2a MPs, only two (Bill Cash & Michael Fabricant) voted against the Phase 2a bill, two abstained and one – Tamworth’s Christopher Pincher voted yes. The 13 MPs on the rest of the route abstained!

I’ll be monitoring the petition result to the bitter end in order to mine the data and judge the strength of the opposition to Hs2 but on current results it’s fair to say it’s ineffectual. The next data of interest will be the number of petitions posted on phase 2a. Unlike on phase 1 there’s no groups trying to canvas petitions or issuing templates for people to follow, so the results are likely to be very different. Of course, the template petitions were a waste of time as they were grouped together!

Now that the national anti Hs2 campaign’s collapsed, the local groups are increasingly isolated. Their ability to lobby MPs is both limited and ineffective as Hs2 continues to enjoy cross-party support and has the backing of most regional political and business leaders, especially in the metropolitan areas. I expect that support to grow as more and more Hs2 construction contracts are let and firms recruit staff and place orders for equipment.

2018 is going to be a very interesting year for Hs2 – if not for its opponents!

Hs2 to Crewe – radio silence from Stop Hs2.

23 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, Hs2 to Crewe, StopHs2

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Five days ago the Parliamentary timetable was announced for the 2nd reading of the  Hs2 Phase 2a Hybrid Bill from the W Midlands to Crewe. This is the most important Parliamentary event since 2014 when  the Phase 1 Hybrid Bill passed its second reading with a stonking majority of 411. 2nd reading is Parliament’s seal of approval on Phase 2a. If the bill passes, then Parliament is stating its intention that the line to Crewe will be built. 3rd reading and Royal Assent will follow almost automatically.

This means that the 30th is a crucial day for those opposed to building Hs2, especially those living on the phase 2a route. 2nd reading’s a week today (next Tuesday), so what are supposed ‘national’ group Stop Hs2 doing about it? Completely ignoring it – that’s what! Anyone relying on Stop Hs2 for news wouldn’t have a clue it’s even happening as there’s been no mention on their website, Facebook page or Twitter feed! It’s as if it doesn’t exist – which speaks volumes about the collapse of the Stop Hs2 campaign. The day Parliament made the announcement the only ‘news’ on the Stop Hs2 website was about a Euston Vicar chained to a tree. Talk about a sideshow!

The fact Stop Hs2 have ignored the real story says everything. Essentially, they’ve given up. They’ve changed from actively trying to stop Hs2 to doing nothing but moan about Hs2. Mind you, they’re not even doing much of that. They’re very much a part-time organisation who disappear for days – as the gaps on the website and social media accounts demonstrate. There’s no active campaigning going on anymore – as completely ignoring phase 2a shows. In the ‘old days’ StopH2 would have been organising demonstrations, encouraging people to respond to the petitioning process, publishing info for them to use etc, now? There’s nothing. It’s hardly surprising. StopH2 is two people, Chair Penny Gaines who now lives down in the SouthWest and ‘Campaign Manager’ Jo Rukin. Whilst he looks for a proper job Rukin’s reduced to a retweeting service for any old rubbish on the #hs2 hashtag or making up outrageous porkies for his rare posts on their website. Gaines is just as bad.

It’s the same on the ground. Here’s the latest Stop Hs2 petition results for phase 2a.

phase 2 a

Not a single area has managed even half of 1% of constituents signing. Not exactly constituencies up in arms, are they? I’ve had a look through social media to see what action there is from any remaining ‘action’ groups on the route. The answer? Bugger all.

Here’s ‘Lichfield against Hs2’ Facebook page. It’s been derelict since September 2017. A grand total of 172 followed it. Of course, Lichfield’s MP, Michael Fabricant is a high-profile StopHs2 supporter but he’s very much in a minority. He’s good at gesture politics and self-publicity but he’s essentially powerless when it comes to trying to stop Hs2.

The villages of Whitmore and Madeley have a joint Facebook page which has been updated. Are they going to protest about the bill, perhaps rally in London? No. They’re going to have a meeting about it AFTER the bill passes 2nd reading! They’re not campaigning to stop Hs2, they’re campaigning for a longer, deeper tunnel.

The Tamworth ‘action’ group have a website that’s been derelict since March 2012! I can’t find anything else more recent.

I can find no sign of an ‘action’ group in Stone, although the local Tory MP, Sir Bill Cash does oppose Hs2. There’s no sign of organised grassroots opposition.

Staffordshire as a county has no organised opposition on the ground either. That collapsed years ago due to in-fighting as it was dominated by eccentrics who were using it to further their personal aggrandisement or UKIP agendas rather than as a serious Stop Hs2 campaign (see Trevor Forrester!)

As for Crewe – forget it. The opposition to Hs2 in the town was always politically led by either UKIP or the Greens. Now UKIP is a disaster area and the Greens are in a parlous state in the polls. In contrast, the Local Enterprise Partnership and politicians are strongly in favour of Hs2.

If anyone knows of any other groups, Facebooks pages of websites that should be included here – please, let me know.

If this is a look at the health of the StopHs2 campaign, the only diagnosis is that it’s terminal. The ‘national’ group is completely irrelevant now, but then it was always a national group in name only. Like Hs2aa and AGAHST, it was really all about phase 1. When it was clear that couldn’t be stopped, the writing was on the wall.

UPDATE: 26th January.

Yesterday StopHs2 finally had to admit that the Phase 2a Hybrid Bill would get its second reading on Tuesday. Penny Gaines (Joe Rukin still having gone missing) posted this dollop of recycled nonsense on their website. It tacitly admits defeat. There’s no call to arms, no demonstrations organised, no suggestions on what people should do to oppose the bill – nothing – just a whinge with a few porkies thrown in. Gaines makes the usual allegations that Hs2 is ‘late’. Whilst it’s true the timetable for the initial stages has slipped, the opening dates haven’t – she also completely ignores the fact the opening date for phase 2a has been brought forward from 2033 to 2027. That’s 6 years early!

Gaines says she and Rukin will be ‘live tweeting’ on the day. In other words, She’ll be sat at home in Bournemouth & Rukin in Kenilworth and they’ll have a whinge about the bill passing on Twitter. That’s what their ‘campaign’ is reduced to. It’s powerless, toothless and pointless. It exists as a ‘campaign’ in name only. It’s as much a campaign as an old bloke in a pub moaning about the world.

Stop Hs2 is dead.

 

Hs2 news: Phase 2a to Crewe Hybrid Bill 2nd reading.

18 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by in Hs2, Hs2 to Crewe, Parliament, Rail Investment, StopHs2, Transport

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The 2nd reading of the Hs2 Phase 2a West Midlands to Crewe Hybrid Bill has been scheduled for Tuesday 30th January.

phase 2a

A number of important decisions are made at 2nd reading. Firstly, the principles of the bill are established. A debate is held, the length of the petitioning process is decided and finally, the premise of the bill is assured. This final bit means that 2nd reading is regarded as Parliament’s intent. If the bill passes with a large majority (as the phase 1 bill did), Parliament’s intent is very clear. After the Second Reading, there can be no amendment which can destroy the principle of the bill.

In addition to referring a hybrid bill to select committee, the House may also give instructions to the select committee. Instructions can prevent the Hybrid Bill select committee from amending certain provisions or allow it to make alterations to infrastructure provided for in the Bill

After the bill passes 2nd reading the petitioning committee (made up of MPs unconnected with the project) will be established.  The composition of a select committee reflects the party balance in the House. The select committee will mostly sit in a quasi-judicial capacity. It will not be looking at principle or policy; its focus will be restricted to addressing mitigation, compensation and adjustment.

It’s the same after the bill passes the formality of 3rd Reading & goes on to the Lords. The whole petitioning process isn’t rerun, and the Lords will have no power to reject or fundamentally alter the Bill.

So, what does this mean for the Stophs2 campaign? They’re toast! It means the focus has moved away from phase 1 and shifted North. Their campaign’s always been very weak and disorganised on this section. All their national groups were Phase 1 based. There are very few active ‘action’ groups locally. Staffordshire’s is a great example of this, they were always divided by the ‘cult of personality’ as local eccentrics or ‘kippers’ (UKIP supporters) tried to use the issue for their own ends. As UKIP has collapsed and is on the verge of bankruptcy, don’t expect much organised opposition there! The recent Stop Hs2 petition on the Government website is a useful indicator as to the health (or otherwise) of the anti Hs2 campaign in the area. Here’s a spreadsheet from yesterday which has a breakdown of the signatures by constituency. From this it’s easy to see how few active anti Hs2 ‘action groups there are.

revised petition

There will be  number of things to watch out for at 2nd reading, including the size of the majority for the bill, the number of MPs who vote against – and where their constituencies are. After that there’ll be about 3 weeks for people to petition the Committee. The number of petitions will also be of interest, especially as this time electronic submissions will be accepted. For phase 1 petitions actually had to be delivered to Parliament in person.

I wonder if StopHs2 will be organising a rally outside Parliament on the 30th the way they did for 2nd reading of the Phase 1 bill. That was an embarrassment as less than 100 people turned up!

DG177046. Anti Hs2 demo. Westminster. London. 28.4.14.

This was meant to be a national demonstration from all the different phases of Hs2. Remember over 6.5 million people live in constituencies Hs2 will pass through, yet less than 100 people turned up to protest!

If there’s no demonstration this time it will say an awful lot about how far the Stop Hs2 campaign’s collapsed.