New high-speed rail initiative launched

Birmingham alone could benefit to the tune of £2.24bn from a high speed rail link according to work conducted by Greengauge 21.

A new programme was launched today to promote high speed rail development and is designed to identify a national strategy and examine high-speed rail in five identified corridors.

Greengauge 21 director Jim Steer announced the launch of the £0.75M development programme at today's Railway Forum event at the Millennium Point in Birmingham.

The programme, which will be funded by a consortium of interests who are creating a Public Interest Group to oversee the work, will investigate funding options as well as consulting widely on the conclusions reached by earlier studies and on the outcome of this programme.

Greengauge 21, which promotes the case for high-speed rail, will examine and develop schemes for five corridors, namely: London, Birmingham, Manchester; London, Cambridge, Northeast; London, Bristol/Cardiff; Trans-Pennine and Anglo-Scottish.

"This programme is designed to answer the questions that ministers and others raise about high-speed rail. We start from a perspective that this is all about achieving sustainable growth for the economy of Britain as a whole, rather than just a narrow concern about rail capacity, important though that issue will no doubt continue to be," said Steer.