Written Evidence Submitted by the Stone Railhead Crisis Group (MTP0015)

Written evidence submitted by the Stone Railhead Crisis Group (MTP0015) Executive Summary This evidence is presented by the Stone Railhead Crisis Group (SRCG) based in Staffordshire. The SRCG is extremely concerned that the current HS2 proposals for Phase 2a will significantly reduce existing rail connectivity to, from and within the county and have offered alternative solutions to elements of the project to mitigate the situation. Our proposals include relocating the proposed Phase 2a railhead and maintenance base from Stone, where it will negatively impact the strategically important railway that forms a core part of the West Coast Mainline network, to a location 13km to the north that will provide the catalyst for the reopening of a former railway to Newcastle-under-Lyme and thereafter Stoke- on-Trent. The alternative maintenance base will not only provide HS2 with a superior engineering facility that will be cheaper to construct and operate but the reopened railway will provide the Potteries with the opportunity to secure significant long-term transportation benefits. These would transform the economic well-being of the city conurbation and thereby meet the aspirations of the Government’s levelling-up agenda as set out in its National Infrastructure Strategy. 1. Introduction 1.1 Stone Railhead Crisis Group 1.1.1 The Stone Railhead Crisis Group (SRCG) is a community group that is based in the village of Yarnfield, near Stone in Staffordshire. 1.1.2 SRCG was set up in November 2016 following the Phase 2a Design Refinement Consultation that proposed to relocate a construction railhead and subsequent operational maintenance facility from brownfield land at Basford Hall Sidings, located just south of Crewe, to greenfield land near Stone. 1.1.3 SRCG is a non-political group that is not opposed to the principles of High-Speed Rail. It has wide support from local people and its technical team has represented three parish councils on four occasions throughout the Phase 2a hybrid bill parliamentary process. 1.1.4 SRCG’s key objectives are to: Seek the best environmental and economic outcomes from HS2 for local people and the wider population of Staffordshire. Critically assess HS2 Ltd’s Stone Railhead/IMB-R proposals to identify mitigation options, including an alternative location for the facility that would entail the reopening of a former Staffordshire railway. Prepare technical evidence and present it to influencers and decision makers in order to achieve our objectives. 1.2 Reasons for submitting evidence 1.2.1 SRCG wishes to draw the Transport Committee’s attention to the plight of Staffordshire; specifically, that once Phase 2a of HS2 is operational, the county will receive a far inferior rail service to London, Manchester and Liverpool than it currently enjoys. 1.2.2 We are also extremely concerned that the transportation and economic needs and priorities of Staffordshire will be forgotten and fall between the gaps created by HS2 and the Integrated Rail Plan. 1.2.3 We therefore need action to be taken before it is too late and support Amendment 4 to the Phase 2a Hybrid Bill, which seeks sufficient provision for rail passengers to connect to Phase 2a and, if not, whether the reopening or construction of new lines and stations could achieve this objective. 1.2.4 We also aim to persuade the Transport Select Committee to use its influence to encourage the Government to seek changes to Phase 2a. This will not only help achieve the Government’s levelling-up agenda and greatly benefit the people of Staffordshire, but also provide advantage to HS2 itself and save UK taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds. 1.2.5 We hope that our proposals to reopen a former Staffordshire railway, which would dramatically improve future connectivity in the county and help secure its economic future, will find support in the provisions of the forthcoming Integrated Rail Plan, or any subsequent amendments to it. 2. Transport infrastructure strategy and priorities 2.1 National Infrastructure Strategy High-Speed 2 2.1.1 The National Infrastructure Strategy (NIS) describes the importance of HS2, asserting that it is: “Backing HS2 to deliver essential North-South connectivity, with an Integrated Rail Plan to deliver transformational improvements in the Midlands and the North.” 2.1.2 The NIS also includes several other commitments that would suggest that, because Staffordshire is located on the interface between the Midlands and the North, it should benefit from Government investment in railway infrastructure: “…in the immediate-term new investment will be targeted at smaller local schemes to upgrade existing infrastructure.” [page 25] “High-speed rail does not just affect those who ride it, but also releases capacity on the classic rail network, meaning better local train connections into the UK’s great cities.” [page 40]. Levelling-up agenda 2.1.3 The NIS also talks extensively about the levelling-up agenda, with the Prime Minister confirming that “Levelling up is my government’s core purpose.” 2.1.4 The Government wants to ensure that no community is left behind and to achieve this objective proposes to create regional powerhouses; making cities the engines of growth and revitalising towns. 2.2 National Infrastructure Commission report 2.2.1 At the time of the preparation of this evidence, the Integrated Rail Plan has not been published. However, the National Infrastructure Commission final report entitled ‘Rail Needs Assessment of the Midlands and the North’, which was published on 15th December 2020, gives us an insight into what it might contain. 2.2.2 Unfortunately, the NIC report makes no mention of Staffordshire and completely ignores the area of the ‘Constellation Partnership’, which is situated between the Midlands Engine and the Northern Powerhouse. 2.2.3 For north-south connectivity, the report relies entirely on the fact that plans for HS2 Phase 2a are already well advanced. The authors therefore see no need to facilitate schemes that benefit the communities through which the HS2 line will pass despite the fact that, in Staffordshire’s case, they will have to put up with many years of construction related misery and chaos and the final outcome will deliver impoverished north-south connections. 3. Impacts of current proposals for Phase 2a on Staffordshire 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 SRCG has prepared a review of the main railway connections to, from and within Staffordshire, which has been provided to all of Staffordshire’s MPs prior to the forthcoming debate of the Phase 2a Hybrid Bill in the House of Commons. 3.1.2 The report entitled ‘High Speed Rail Phase 2a: Why the current proposals are bad for Staffordshire’s existing and future railway links’ has also been forwarded to the Rt. Hon Grant Shapps MP, Secretary of State for Transport, by Sir Bill Cash, MP for the Stone constituency. 3.1.3 This report, together with the Executive Summary, can be made available to the Transport Select Committee as required. 3.2 Comparison of rail services before and after Phase 2a opens Existing v future rail services 3.2.1 Staffordshire currently has very good train services to/from London via the West Coast Mainline (WCML) network (see Figure 1) with travel times to London Euston station ranging from 77 minutes for Stafford and 85 minutes for Stoke on-Trent. 3.2.2 The frequency of trains to/from London is also good. Stoke-on-Trent is provided with two trains per hour (tph) and Stafford at least 1tph in each direction according to the weekday timetable that operated prior to the Covid-19 outbreak. Figure 1: West Coast Mainline 3.2.3 The current combined total of more than three express trains per hour to/from Staffordshire’s two main rail destinations will be dramatically reduced once the western arm of HS2 is fully operational. 3.2.4 These 3-4 hourly services will be replaced by a single HS2 classic compatible express train per hour in each direction that will be shared between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent and will terminate at Macclesfield, instead of at Manchester Piccadilly. 3.2.5 The existing Pendolino services to Manchester and Liverpool will no longer run to avoid providing competition to HS2 services to the same destinations. Because HS2 services will be operated by the franchise holder of the West Coast services (currently Avanti) when HS2 opens, it is very unlikely the operator will run express trains in competition with its flagship new service. 3.2.6 Worryingly, even Staffordshire’s proposed token HS2 classic compatible service is vulnerable to being cut from the timetable before it starts to operate. 3.2.7 This service was included in the original plan when HS2 schedules were based on the assumption that London Euston would have a capacity of 18tph. However, signalling limitations have reduced this capacity to 14tph. 3.2.8 In addition, multiple design constraints at Euston will mean that its opening to HS2 services will be delayed by at least three years. This will mean that Old Oak Common will initially operate as the London terminus of HS2, which will cut capacity to just 10tph. Additional impact on the Norton Bridge to Stone Railway 3.2.9 The proposed HS2 classic compatible service to Macclesfield will use the strategically important 6km long Norton Bridge to Stone Railway, which connects the main WCML from just north of Stafford to the direct London to Manchester line at Stone. 3.2.10 The Norton Bridge to Stone Railway is already used by two Cross Country services per hour1 between Manchester and the South West or South Coast via Stafford, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, as well as an hourly NorthWestern service to London.

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