Business leaders claim high speed rail would boost economy

The British Chambers of Commerce has urged the main political parties to sign a “binding agreement” committing the next government to press ahead with the scheme.

Construction of a high speed rail network should start during the next Parliament, as the business and environmental case has already been made, said the BCC.

Revenues from high speed rail coupled with other benefits would be worth almost £55bn to the economy, it was argued.

Director general of the BCC David Frost said: “One of the most crucial factors in enabling business growth is the quality of a country’s infrastructure. For this reason, we are putting our full backing behind a comprehensive high-speed rail network.

“Congestion on our transport system is already costing businesses £23bn a year in lost productivity. That is simply not sustainable if we want companies to thrive and our economy to grow.

“We know that high speed rail (HSR) has been successful both here and abroad, and we know that the main political parties support it. What we want to see now is a move from simply talking about HSR to a binding cross-party agreement that prevents politics and budget restraints from getting in the way of building this network.

“We have a history of delaying important infrastructure projects in this country, but this cannot be one of them.”

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