Comments on: Government to reassess case for new Bradford station and improved Leeds connectivity https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/government-to-reassess-case-for-new-bradford-station-and-improved-leeds-connectivity-14-07-2023/ Civil engineering and construction news and jobs from New Civil Engineer Thu, 20 Jul 2023 09:06:35 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0 https://www.newcivilengineer.com/wp-content/themes/mbm-mops-2017/images/logo.gif New Civil Engineer https://www.newcivilengineer.com 125 75 Civil engineering and construction news and jobs from New Civil Engineer By: jpporter43@gmail.com https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/government-to-reassess-case-for-new-bradford-station-and-improved-leeds-connectivity-14-07-2023/#comment-4319 Fri, 14 Jul 2023 14:20:22 +0000 https://www.newcivilengineer.com/?p=264037#comment-4319 I welcome the Government’s response regarding the Union Connectivity Review that
“the Golborne Link.. has not therefore been ‘cancelled’; rather legislation for its authorisation has been deferred.. to determine whether there is a better solution.”
Equally positive is the Government’s statement that
“It will continue to provide updated economic assessments of HS2 at key decision points for the programme, [and] intends to provide an updated economic assessment and BCR for (a) the entire committed HS2 project, though the exact timing will be determined by i) the analytical work programme needed for specific phases of the HS2 programme, and ii) the impacts of the decisions set out in the 9 March written ministerial statement to rephase the delivery ranges of parts of the project.

Unfortunately that ministerial statement underplays how HS2 Euston is too small to guarantee reliable operation, but could MUDDLE THROUGH with one fewer platform if
# WCML Euston lost 3 platforms,
# Newcastle & some Leeds fastest services remained on the ECML (freeing HS2 Platform 7) and CRUCIALLY
# schemes for both HS2 & WCML Euston beyond the 2050 Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) are protected.
I hope that’s part of DfT’s thinking despite the unclear public statements described so well in William Barter’s online comments Re: NCE 7/7/23 DfT ‘does not know what it’s trying to achieve’ with HS2’s Euston station says Public Accounts Committee

As there are options in Manchester which avoid knock on impacts, it’s less welcome to see the Government stress that
“An underground station would significantly add to the cost of the Crewe to Manchester scheme and delay the opening of the Western Leg into Manchester by between seven and 13 years, [with] knock-on impacts to the start of new NPR services. The Government has not seen any evidence to indicate that an underground option would unlock enough land value to justify the increased cost of such a station.”

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