UK - Tories plan £20bn 180mph rail link

[John Ashworth]

Tories plan £20bn 180mph rail link instead of Heathrow third runway
Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
The Guardian, Monday September 29 2008

A third runway at Heathrow airport would be scrapped by a Tory government that would instead build a £20bn TGV-style high speed rail link between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

In one of David Cameron's boldest moves on the environment, the party will today unveil plans to cut 66,000 flights a year from Heathrow by tempting passengers on to the first new rail line north of London in more than a century.

Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, told the Guardian last night: "This is a seriously green decision. A few years ago it would have been inconceivable for the leader of the Conservative party to say no to a third runway and putting the brakes on Heathrow expansion."

The announcement, on the second day of the party's conference in Birmingham, is designed to show that the party has not abandoned its "Vote Blue, Go Green" agenda in the face of the economic downturn. Gordon Brown has warned that some Tory green plans would jeopardise economic development, but Cameron hopes to blunt any Labour attack by outlining detailed plans to tempt airline passengers on to the railways.

Villiers will announce that a Tory government would spend £15.6bn between 2015 and 2027 (£1.3bn a year for 12 years) to build the new high speed rail link from London St Pancras to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. A further £4.4bn would be paid by the private sector.

The line would be completely new and would allow the existing West Coast main line to be used for commuter journeys between smaller towns, such as Macclesfield, Stafford and Milton Keynes, and the big cities. There would also be a high speed line linking St Pancras with Heathrow.

Journey times on the 180mph line would be slashed: London to Birmingham would take 45 minutes instead of 80; London to Manchester 80 minutes instead of 125, London to Leeds 97 minutes instead of 125 and Manchester to Leeds 17 minutes instead of the current 55.

The Tories say the new rail link would cut flights from Heathrow by 66,430 a year - 44% of the capacity of the planned third runway. There are currently 36 flights a day between Heathrow and Manchester. The Tories hope to cut flights to Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels as passengers are encouraged to use the new high speed rail line which would link up with the Eurostar service at St Pancras.

Greenpeace last night welcomed the announcement. John Sauven, its executive director, said: "The Conservatives have recognised that decisions taken now on high carbon projects like new runways and coal-fired power stations will make or break our chances of tackling climate change in the future."

The government has resisted pressure for a high speed rail link on the grounds that money should be spent on upgrading existing lines.

[John Ashworth]

As a dyed-in-the-wool socialist (definitely of the Old rather than New Labour variety) it breaks my heart to see the Tories with a better transport policy than Labour. Ah well, if they do get in at the next election at least it means they'll get one thing right. If they start building it quickly enough it will be irrevocable by the time Even-Newer Labour get back in again at the next-but-one election...