Insider Media Limited

Transport secretary Philip Hammond has told Insider that the economic case for the planned £32bn high-speed rail line from London to the West Midlands is compelling, but business leaders and local authorities must fight to ensure it goes ahead.

“High-speed rail has the potential to shrink the UK and bring our great northern cities closer to our international gateways to the world in a way nothing has done since the building of the motorway network in the 1960s,” he said.

“It’ll tackle the north/south divide more effectively than half a century of regional policy has succeeded in doing.”

But he stressed that local authorities and businesses must stand up and continue to make the case for investment.

Plans for a ‘Y-shaped’ high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham – that would then continue north onto Manchester and Leeds – have attracted fierce criticism over the environmental damage that building the line would cause.

“There are large numbers of people south of Birmingham who see this as nothing more than an imposition in their community,” said Hammond. “This debate will be dominated by them if the people who are going to be the winners do not speak up loudly and clearly.

“That includes business and it includes civic leaders, just as civic leaders in the Chilterns are organising and bankrolling those who oppose high-speed rail.”

Hammond, who was speaking to Insider at an event in Manchester, launched a five-month consultation into the ‘Y-shaped’ rail link on Monday. He said the project would deliver about £44bn of benefits and would cut journey times between London and other major cities by as much as an hour.

He added: “Dealing with the debt crisis is only part of the challenge; we also need to deliver the conditions for strong growth across the whole of the UK.

“The settlement which transport received in the comprehensive spending review demonstrated the coalition’s commitment to major infrastructure projects. I have made it clear that we will priorities projects that directly support economic growth and job creating. That has to be the number one objective in the current climate.

“The (high-speed rail) project has immense strategic importance with the potential to bring transformational economic benefits to the cities of the North and the Midlands. This exciting and ambitious proposal is at the heart of our plans to rebalance and rebuild Britain’s economy and spread prosperity across the country.

“The line will allow the economies of the Midlands and the North to benefit directly from the global pull of London and the South East. And for the first time, high-speed rail will deliver fast and efficient links between cities in the North and the Midlands.”