Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1

Freepost RTEL-YAZX-HAZT Phase Two Route Consultation PO Box 1152 HARROW HA1 9LH

Dear Sir/ Madam,

High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future – Consultation on the route from the to , and beyond

Northamptonshire County Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to the above consultation.

HS2 is an important issue to this Council, and despite the impact of the route on parts of the county, we support the proposals on the basis of the supposed benefits that we will receive from released capacity from both Phase 1 on the and Phase 2 on the .

On this basis, I have taken the view to concentrate our response to the consultation based on our main area of interest in relation to Phase 2; the opportunities for released capacity on the Midland Main Line and the connections to High Speed Rail at both the proposed Interchange and Hub stations. .

North is a rapidly growing area of the County, with 12,973, 5,544 and 9,975 new houses planned and an equivalent level of new jobs in Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough between 2011 and 2021. Therefore securing a high service frequency is critical to the future economic wellbeing and economic competitiveness of the area.

As outlined in our response, we have been disappointed to date to not have been involved in detailed discussions regarding the opportunities for released capacity on the Midland Main Line as we are keen to do so. If you require any further clarification of the issues raised in our response or a contact for setting up a supplementary meeting then please contact my office who will provide details of the most appropriate contact.

Yours faithfully,

Tony Ciaburro etc

Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1

High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future Consultation on the route from the West Midlands to Manchester, Leeds and beyond

Northamptonshire County Council Consultation Response

i) Do you agree or disagree with the Government’s proposed route between the West Midlands and Manchester as described in Chapter 7? This includes the proposed route alignment, the location of , ventilation shafts, cuttings, viaducts and depots as well as how the high speed line will connect to the West Coast Main Line.

No comment ii) Do you agree or disagree with the Government’s proposals for: a) A Manchester station at Manchester Piccadilly as described in Chapter 7 (sections 7.8.1 – 7.8.7)?

We welcome the proposal for a station at Manchester Piccadilly as its location at a key existing rail interchange should facilitate easy access to the city centre and ready interchange with other rail and public transport services for onward travel.

b) An additional station near as described in Chapter 7 (sections 7.6.1 – 7.6.6)?

We welcome the proposal for a station at Manchester Airport which will help to increase the range of airports that can be readily accessed by Northamptonshire travellers. iii) Do you think that there should be any additional stations on the western leg between the West Midlands and Manchester?

No comment. iv) Do you agree or disagree with the Government’s proposed route between West Midlands and Leeds as described in Chapter 8? This includes the proposed route alignment, the location of tunnels, ventilation shafts, cuttings, viaducts and depots as well as how the high speed line will connect to the .

No comment v) Do you agree or disagree with the Government’s proposals for: a) A Leeds station at Leeds New Lane as described in Chapter 8 (sections 8.8.1 – 8.8.5)?

Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1

While would ideally wish to see a station closer to the existing one, we believe that the proposed station at Leeds New Lane would be acceptable in terms of access to the city centre and interchange with services. b) A South station to be located at Meadowhall as described in Chapter 8 (sections 8.5.1 – 8.5.8)?

While we think that a station should be ideally located in Sheffield city centre, adjacent to the existing National Rail station, we recognise that constraints prevent this. We believe that the proposal for a station at Meadowhall is an acceptable alternative, permitting access to wide of destinations both in South Yorkshire and further afield (eg Hull and Cleethorpes). c) An East Midlands station to be located at as described in Chapter 8 (sections 8.3.1 – 8.3.6)?

As currently proposed East Midlands station will be the nearest connection for those in North Northamptonshire to access the High Speed Rail network for onward connections to Sheffield Meadowhall, Leeds and destinations further north.

By locating the East Midlands station at Toton, journey times to and on the Midland Main Line (MML) from Kettering and Wellingborough are set to increase due to services having to reverse at Toton to go on to serve Derby and Nottingham, which represents a significant disbenefit to North Northamptonshire.

Furthermore, it is recognised in ’s Better Connections: Options for the integration of that the benefits of released capacity on the MML from High Speed Rail is limited because unlike the WCML, which parallels much of the HS2 Phase Two line, the HS2 service pattern does not directly replicate existing MML intermediate services. To some extent this is a product of choosing to locate the stations serving Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield on the High Speed network outside of the city centres, as the time penalty for accessing the stations means that in some instances the MML will remain more competitive and therefore demand will exist to provide a similar level of long distance services, and thus the demand released for the regional and local lines is not as great.

Analysis undertaken by HS2 Ltd does however indicate that a Hub Station at Toton (serving both HS2 and classic rail access) is capable of serving a much larger population than any single city centre station location in the East Midlands and therefore has the strongest business case. In light of this, Northamptonshire County Council would urge that maximum access to the new Hub station by national rail, tram, bus, walking and cycling from all areas of Derby and Nottingham is achieved to the maximise the accessibility of the site, and in doing so, minimise the time penalty of using it and therefore increase its attractiveness to maximise the amount of released capacity that can be achieved. Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1

Whilst North Northamptonshire is set to lose out in terms of journey times, we believe that there are opportunities to increase the benefits of a station at Toton by improving connectivity via the East Midlands Station. For example, by running classic-compatible services from St Pancras calling at Wellingborough, Kettering and to East Midlands Station and on to the High Speed lines, connectivity could be achieved to Sheffield, Leeds and other destinations further north, much greater benefits for North Northamptonshire. *Insert link to study that East Midlands Councils have commissioned?* vi) Do you think that there should be any additional stations on the eastern leg between the West Midlands and Leeds?

No comment vii) Please let us know your comments on the Appraisal of Sustainability (as reported in the Sustainability Statement) of the Government’s proposed Phase Two route, including the alternatives to the proposed route as described in Chapter 9.

No comment viii) Please let us know your comments on how the capacity that would be freed up on the existing rail network by the introduction of the proposed Phase Two route could be used as described in Chapter 10.

HS2 is an important issue to this council, and despite the impact of the route on parts of the county, we support the proposals on the basis of the supposed benefits that we will receive from released capacity from both Phase 1 on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) and Phase 2 on the Midland Main Line (MML).

To inform our response we have considered not just the commentary provided in the Chapter 10 of the Phase 2 Consultation Document, and the associated Better Connections: Options for the integration of High Speed 2 (Network Rail, July 2013), but also the following documents which have also been published by HS2 Ltd and Network Rail in recent years which are also relevant:  The Strategic Economic Case – PFM v4.3 assumptions report (HS2 Ltd, October 2013)  The Regional Urban Market Study (Network Rail, October 2013)  HS2 Regional Economic Impacts (HS2 Ltd, September 2013)  Updated Economic Case for HS2 (August 2012): Explanation of the Service Patterns (HS2 Ltd, January 2013)

West Coast Main Line services

The key priority for Northamptonshire County Council in terms of the use of released capacity on the West Coast Main Line is ensuring that there is good connectivity between Northampton, Long Buckby, and other WCML stations Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1 such as Milton Keynes Central and Rugby used by Northamptonshire residents to key destinations on the West Coast Main Line.

Our adopted Rail Strategy (January 2013) has an aspiration for an hourly service opportunity to Chester, , Manchester, Preston, Lancaster, and with no more than one change and with a journey time less than the current journey times from Euston to each of those destinations.

This could be achieved in future services specifications by a number of means, including the restoration of a direct service from Northampton to Trent Valley stations and , additional calls by long-distance services at Rugby, or by interchange between Birmingham International and stations. We do not think it helpful to set out exactly how this could be achieved in each instance, and it is likely that a combination of all the means would be required to achieve the objective fully.

However, we would strongly press for the restoration of a direct service between Northampton and Trent Valley stations. During the period that it ran this service was of great benefit to travellers between Northampton and a wide range of destinations, not only on the West Coast Main Line, but also places on adjacent lines such as Leicester or Derby where through rail travel has traditionally been very difficult. Unfortunately, as such journeys frequently involved more than one train operator, no attempt was made to promote the range of connections which the service made possible.

Midland Main Line services

Improving journey times southbound and connectivity northbound to Leicester, Nottingham and Derby is crucial to the North Northamptonshire towns of Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough as they are set to see extensive growth in the coming years, with 12,973, 5,544 and 9,975 new houses planned and an equivalent level of new jobs in the three boroughs between 2011 and 2021.

This housing growth represents a significant expansion of all three towns. In particular, the Stanton Cross development in Wellingborough of 3,100 houses and 4,600 jobs, which will be located immediately to the east of Wellingborough Station is likely to significantly drive rail growth, with the key employment site located adjacent to a new eastern station entrance. In fact, once Stanton Cross has been fully built out, there will be a population of over 30,000 living within 3km of Wellingborough railway station.

Delivering railway services in the future that match demand, providing competitive journey times and journey choice will be crucial to securing the economic vitality of North Northamptonshire going forward and is vital in encouraging people to use public transport rather than the car.

Key corridor demands

Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1

While the principal destination for journeys from Northamptonshire’s MML stations is London St Pancras, there are also strong flows to the East Midland cities of Leicester, Nottingham and Derby, as well as the other large towns and airports on the route.

Network Rail’s recently published Regional Urban Market Study supports the importance of connectivity between North Northamptonshire and the East Midlands, outlining that ‘there is a strong market for travel between Market Harborough and Kettering into Leicester, and this level of service should be maintained as a conditional output’.

The Regional Urban Market Study outlined that the total journeys into Leicester (year to March 2012) from Wellingborough is 58,000 and 123,000 from Kettering. The total journeys into Nottingham from Kettering are 28,000 (year to March 2012). This is in stark contrast to only 8,000 total journeys into Derby (year to March 2012) from Kettering, where there is a service frequency of just 5 journeys a day compared to 19 journeys a day to Nottingham.

Interchange with Thameslink services to the south, at Leicester with services to Birmingham, Peterborough and East Anglia and at Derby with Cross-Country services to the North-East and opens up a wide range of destinations for business and leisure trips.

The Regional Urban Market study also identifies that improving the generalised journey time (GJT) from Wellingborough, Kettering and Market Harborough on this corridor into Leicester will have the largest impact on labour supply and reducing deprivation by providing access to employment. The study also suggests that a half hourly frequency from these stations and the current journey time speed could reduce the GJT to Nottingham by between five and seven minutes.

Aspiration for North Northamptonshire Rail Services

The County Council’s aspiration for service frequency from Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough is set out in Policy 13 and 14 of the Northamptonshire Rail Strategy (adopted January 2013).

It states that the minimum train service at Corby station should be:  At least an hourly service to Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton or Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras; ~Including through services in the evenings and on Sundays;  An improved service to Oakham, Melton Mowbray and beyond to Derby or Nottingham;  Good connections at Kettering with northbound Midland Main Line services ~No more than one change (at Kettering) to reach Market Harborough, Leicester, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Nottingham, Chesterfield and Sheffield ~No more than two changes to each Leeds, and Newcastle  Good connections at Bedford with future East-West Rail services

Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1

The County Council’s Rail Strategy Policy RAIL 13 states that the minimum train service at Kettering and Wellingborough stations should be:  At least an hourly non-stop service from one of the stations to London St Pancras;  At least a half-hourly service to Bedford, Luton or Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras;  At least a half-hourly service to Market Harborough and Leicester;  At least an hourly through service to Corby, Loughborough, East Midlands Parkway, Derby, Nottingham, Chesterfield and Sheffield;  An improved service to Oakham and Melton Mowbray;  Good connections for Leeds, York and Newcastle with no more than one change of train required;  Good connections at Bedford with future East-West rail services;  No more than one changes to reach Leeds, York and Newcastle; and  Good connections at Bedford with future East-West Rail services

It is worth noting that this service specification represents a minimum, and the strategy makes clear that particularly at peak times, it is important sufficient capacity is provided to meet passenger demand, whether by running extra or longer trains.

The strategy was adopted before the publication of the Government’s proposals for HS2 Phase 2, including the proposed East Midlands Hub station. The only change we would propose in this consultation response is that there should also be a through direct hourly service linking Wellingborough and Kettering (and ideally Corby) with the proposed East Midlands Hub station. This could be most effectively achieved by a variation of the proposal by East Midlands Councils to run classic-compatible services from St Pancras calling at Wellingborough, Kettering and Leicester to East Midlands Hub Station and northwards along the High Speed line to Sheffield, Leeds and possibly other destinations further north. This would facilitate faster onward travel to destinations such as Leeds, York and Newcastle which were mentioned as priorities in the adopted Rail Strategy.

We do, however, have particular concerns at the proposals in some of the published documents that all services from North Northamptonshire would have to reverse at East Midlands Hub to reach either Derby or Nottingham; or indeed that a direct service to Nottingham might be lost in favour of Derby. As noted above, the Network Rail Regional and Urban Market Study makes clear that the market for travel between North Northamptonshire and Nottingham is significantly more important than that to Derby.

While ideally, we would like to see separate direct services linking our stations to Derby, Nottingham and the new Hub station, if only two services are possible, we would prefer to see that to Nottingham routed direct and that to Derby via the Hub station. We would assume that the service via the Hub station would be timed to give good interchange with High Speed services to key destinations.

Agenda Item No: 08 – Appendix 1

We also welcome the suggestion in the October 2013 modelling assumptions report that direct services might be lost introduced connecting Kettering and Wellingborough with Bletchley and Oxford via East-West Rail.

ix) Please let us know your comments on the introduction of other utilities along the proposed Phase Two line of route as described in Chapter 11.

No comment.