Vow to keep long-distance services under HS2 plan

The minister insisted to the Express & Star that the £42.6 billion HS2 project will not mean existing services are taken away.

His comments contradict the suggestion of Network Rail to downgrade Wolverhampton and Stafford rail stations to 'spokes' serving 'hubs' in Crewe and Birmingham.

The business case for HS2 also proposes transferring long distance services to HS2, meaning passengers travelling to London from Wolverhampton and Sandwell and Dudley would have to change at Birmingham.

The line is set to open between Birmingham and London from 2026 with a Y-shaped spur up to Manchester and Leeds up and running from 2033. But speaking from the Tory party conference, Stafford-born former Cannock Chase councillor Mr McLoughlin, said: "I don't think there will be any loss of service.

"We are not building extra capacity to take away existing services. We're building it to enhance existing services. Some passengers will want to use the new trains and the new link between north and south. This is about improving and expanding capacity."

However, the business case for HS2 suggests that the West Coast Main Line would be used for more, slower trains south of Wolverhampton, connecting more stations.

But Mr McLoughlin said: "The fact is that HS2 will increase capacity by 143 per cent between Birmingham and London. It's a massive boost for the West Midlands, not just Birmingham, but for people in places like Walsall and Cannock. There will be a change in service patterns but there will still be services that we have now. Will trains still be running exactly the same? I'm not going to say that. We want to use the existing lines for freight as well."

Labour's shadow chancellor Ed Balls has said that if the party returns to power in 2015 it will not write a 'blank cheque' for HS2. His comments came in the wake of soaring costs.

Mr McLoughlin would not set an overall limit on spending for HS2 but said he expected it to come in on or below its current budget.

"I've told HS2 Ltd that they must deliver the first phase within £17.6 billion", he said. "We've been very clear on that. We agree with Labour that we have to keep an eye on the cost." The transport secretary, who tried to win Wolverhampton South East for the Tories in 1983, three years before winning his current Derbyshire seat, said there was no question of spending the money planned for HS2 on something else.

He said: "It wouldn't give us the capacity increase we get with HS2. We haven't built a new line north of London in 100 years. We need something fit for the rest of the 21st century.

"We will also lose out as a country without it. I don't want us seen as having an antiquated system when other countries in Europe have a high speed one. Investors will go to France or Germany instead."