Pleas to keep HS2 plan on track for future

The Government must press ahead with plans for a high-speed rail line between Birmingham and London, business leaders, unions and economists are urging.

In joint letters they said the proposed HS2 line, which will also go to Leeds and Manchester and cost £32 billion, would boost growth and create jobs.

The final decision on whether to go ahead with the controversial rail link has been postponed until this month.

The calls come despite objections from Staffordshire as councillors on the county council and Lichfield District Council have formally opposed it.

They are concerned it will tear up countryside near Lichfield and not bring the economic benefits it promises.

Councillors instead believe the new jobs will be concentrated in Birmingham where two new stations will be built.

The 100-mile rail link, due to be constructed between 2016 and 2026, aims to cut the London-to-Birmingham journey time to 49 minutes.

A second, Y-shaped route taking the line north of Birmingham to north-west and north-east England and on to Scotland is envisaged once the London-Birmingham route is completed around 2026.

Signatories on today's letters including John Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, argue that Britain's "poor infrastructure" is a "major obstacle" to long-term growth.

With just 70 miles of high-speed rail track, they say the UK lags behind other "world-class" economies such as France and Japan, and is also trailing Morocco, which has 422 miles, and Saudi Arabia, with 342.

"The absence of a high-speed rail line connecting the northern parts of Britain to London and the European Union is a continuous embarrassment to those promoting British business overseas," they said.

A group of economists today said HS2 would support the creation of up to one million British jobs and give an "immediate boost" to the British construction industry.

Union bosses including Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, and Frances O'Grady, deputy general secretary of Unite, urged the Government to ignore the "wealthy ideological opponents" of HS2 saying the planned line would create jobs.

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• Business backs high-speed rail link

• New fears raised on HS2 route

• MPs backing for high-speed rail plan