The new £34bn UK rail lines that would stop major motorway ‘collapsing’
A ground-breaking report commissioned by Labour on Britain's railways has urged the government to pour billions into the network - as key motorways and existing train lines face collapse.
A new report from former Siemens UK boss Juergen Maier has called for parts of the HS2 network controversially abandoned by the Conservative Government to be revived.
The Labour-commissioned report calls for a revival of the rail network north of Birmingham, including a rail route to Manchester.
At the time of Rishi Sunak's decision to scrap the route, the Birmingham to Manchester route was estimated to cost around £34 billion.
However, Mr Maier has said that the northern railway route is necessary to save the West Coast Main Line and M6 motorway from "collapse".
In the report, the industry heavyweight said: "A new, modern east-to-west connection between the key cities in the north – like that experienced in London and the south-east – cannot come soon enough."
He added: "Also we can’t leave the West Coast Main Line, and in tandem the M6, to collapse following the cancellation of HS2 north."
It is thought that a new railway is required to help ease the strain facing the West Coast Main Line and the M6 motorway, which runs from the Midlands to the border with Scotland.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham echoed the report's findings, saying: "We can’t let the West Coast main line collapse, and it will do in the 2030s if nothing is done about it now.
"That culture of 'getting round to it' has to change, and whilst the issue of HS2 north of Birmingham has gone, this strategy at least helps us make those early decisions now and helps our growth."
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Mr Burnham has previously warned that in the next couple of decades, there was no way the West Coast Mainline and M6 motorway could "service" the growth in Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
He said: "We will have a major transport headache. You could argue we've got it now."
In July, a study by the National Audit Office (NAO) warned that passengers could be urged to avoid travelling on the West Coast Main Line in the future amid fears of overcrowding chaos.
The report included a radical overhaul to create a more connected, affordable, and high-capacity network, as Mr Maier urged Sir Keir Starmer to take bold action.
These included a new rail line from the Midlands to Leeds "now that HS2 in the North has been cancelled," enhanced links between England and Scotland, upgrades to the East Coast Mainline from York to the northeast, and easing of bottlenecks in central Birmingham.
However, Mr Maier’s plans would involve spending billions of pounds at a time when Chancellor Rachel Reeves exposed a £22 billion hole in the public finances. Some £2.9 billion of that figure is related to unfunded transport commitments.
