A plan for Manchester Piccadilly to be expanded as a ‘super-hub’ for high-speed rail in the North when the HS2 station is built has been proposed by rail consultancy, Greengauge21.
In a report, titled ‘Revisiting High Speed North‘, Greengauge21 propose a major upgrade to Manchester Piccadilly station that will allow the station to accommodate the East-West so-called Northern Powerhouse Rail link (NPR), connecting Liverpool and Manchester with cities in Yorkshire. The proposal would take a more long-term vision of expanding the rail network in the North, and allow existing cross-country routes to use the new approach to the station, increasing capacity for commuter and local services into the city centre from other boroughs in the city-region.
The report outlines that the rail network across the North, and in particular in Greater Manchester is highly congested as intercity, local and freight traffic all using the same track. Comparisons are made with the UK motorway network, both separating long-distance travel away from local traffic, and the manner of incremental construction used albeit with a long-term overall plan in place. Greengauge21 are critical of the government’s plans, that fail to address local congestion, and believe a ‘super-hub’ at Manchester Piccadilly for long-distance traffic would ensure benefits of HS2 and any future NPR high-speed links materialise.
Report co-authors, Ian Wray and David Thrower and Greengauge21 founder, Jim Steer, commented:
“Simply put, the rail network in Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield does not work; the North deserves better. The North will benefit from the arrival of HS2 and NPR, but these are long term schemes that will not be delivered to the North until the 2040s. So, it is important that steps are taken in the Government’s new integrated rail plan, known as High Speed North, to address immediate concerns in the existing network.
“It’s not enough to provide fast links between the major cities of the North. It is also essential to overcome existing bottlenecks, and to tie together more distant labour market areas and towns with the centres of the major cities like Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield.
“Ultimately, we do need a grand design, but we need a realistic delivery programme too.”