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Agenda Item No: D1 CABINET 11 May 2010 CORPORATE DIRECTOR FOR ENVIRONMENT, GROWTH & COMMISSIONING: TONY CIABURRO CABINET MEMBER WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENVIRONMENT, GROWTH & TRANSPORT: COUNCILLOR HEATHER SMITH Subject: High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) Recommendations: It is recommended that Cabinet: 1. Agrees its support in principle for a High Speed Rail network in Britain; 2. Agrees that the County Council seek to maximise the potential benefits associated with HS2, including pressing for significant improvements to Northamptonshire‟s rail services in line with the Northamptonshire Arc concept; 3. Agrees that the County Council should press the Government to mitigate the potential adverse impact of HS2 on local amenity, landscape and the environment; 4. Agrees that the County Council should seek compensation in the form of an agreed alternative site for Chipping Warden School should the current preferred route be agreed; 5. Agrees that the cost of this site and the construction of the school, including playing space, should be borne by the Government; 6. Agrees that the costs of mitigating the impact of HS2 on highways and rights of way should be borne by the Government; 7. Agrees the proposed response (see Appendix 6) to the Extreme Hardship Scheme consultation; 8. Agrees that the County Council should take a lead on responding to the Government on behalf of Northamptonshire local authorities; and 9. Agrees that the County Council liaises with South Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Warwickshire to lead a wider local authority response to the HS2 proposals 1. Purpose of Report 1.1 The purpose of the report is to outline details of the recent announcement on High Speed Rail (HS2), including the potential implications for Northamptonshire, and agree the principles which will form the basis of the County Council‟s response to this proposal. 2. Relevant Priority Outcome Perspective Outcome Customers - to achieve our A cleaner, greener and more prosperous county vision, what will our customers see? 2.1 Improved connectivity is one of the three thematic outcomes underpinning the Northamptonshire Arc concept. The concept recognises that HS2 has the potential to bring economic benefits to Northamptonshire. These could include better services on the existing West Coast Main Line which serves Northampton as high speed paths and connections to the inter-city network are freed up by services transferring to the new Line. 3. Background 3.1 On 11th March 2010, the Government published a command paper setting out its proposals for High Speed Rail (HS2). HS2 is a major piece of the national transport infrastructure and is of importance to Britain‟s future prosperity. 3.2 Britain‟s road and rail networks already experience congestion and crowding at peak times. As the demand for travel continues to grow, these problems can only get worse unless major investment takes place. The government has ruled out major new motorways or an expansion of domestic aviation on sustainability grounds. 3.3 High Speed Rail was first introduced by the Japanese in 1964, while the French launched the Paris – Lyon Train a Grande Vitesse (TGV) in 1981. High Speed Rail routes now exist in a range of European and Asian countries, with serious proposals also being made in the United States. 3.4 High Speed Rail not only offers substantially reduced journey times between major city centres, but also a significant increase in people-moving capacity, while producing lower levels of carbon emissions than road or air alternatives. As has been demonstrated in France, the improved connectivity benefits which High Speed Rail could bring to the English regions could provide a major benefit to their economies. 3.5 Currently Britain‟s only High Speed Rail route is the 70-mile HS1 route between London St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. In 2001, the Strategic Rail Authority commissioned the consultancy firm Atkins to look at the case for a high speed line between London and the North. More recently, Greengauge 21 has acted as a strong advocate for the benefits of high speed rail in the UK, while Network Rail has examined the potential benefits of new lines. 3.6 In January 2009, the Government established HS2 Limited, to make a full assessment of the case for a British high speed rail network, and to develop a detailed proposal for an initial line from London to the West Midlands. It had the task of reporting back to Government at the end of 2009. 3.7 The Government published the HS2 Limited report on 11th March 2010, alongside a command paper setting out its policy on High Speed Rail. The Government‟s view is that the UK‟s initial core high speed rail network should consist of a Y-shaped network connecting London directly with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds at speeds of up to 250 miles per hour. 3.8 The Government see wider benefits being obtained through the use of the capacity released on existing lines for expanding commuter and freight services. Northamptonshire being a key area of housing growth is singled out for mention as somewhere that could benefit. 3.9 The Government has also asked HS2 Limited to develop detailed plans for extensions to Manchester and Leeds for public consultation early in 2012. 3.10 Subject to the results of these consultations and further detailed work on costs and funding to feed into decisions to be taken in the next Spending Review, the next step will be to carry out the necessary preparations, including the process of environmental impact assessment, for the introduction of a Hybrid Bill for a core high speed network linking London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. 3.11 This could see the London – Birmingham route opening by the end of 2026, with the links to Manchester and Leeds opening over the succeeding years, although that is clearly dependent on securing Parliamentary approval. 4. Requirements of a suitable route 4.1 The route will have been designed to operate at 300km/h (186mph), but with an alignment capable of operation at 400km/h (248mph). This speed requires a minimum curve radius of 7km, which means that any detour must begin at least 3km before the constraint. 4.2 The route will have been designed to accommodate trains to European loading gauge. This is wider and higher than that on Britain‟s conventional rail lines, although the track gauge is identical. The larger loading gauge allows both wider seat spacing and the operation of double-deck trains if required. Train lengths of up to 400m also make a major contribution to the significant capacity increase possible. This is around twice the length of conventional British trains and as such makes integration at existing stations difficult. Trains operating off the new high speed route would be built to the conventional British loading gauge. 4.3 The Government has proposed a route starting from an enlarged terminal at London Euston, running in tunnel to an interchange station at Old Oak Common (for interchange with Crossrail and Heathrow Airport) and then running alongside an existing rail route through west London before tunnelling through the Chilterns from the M25 to Amersham. Continuing to the west of Wendover and Aylesbury, the route would then make use of the largely-preserved track bed of the former Great Central Railway until just south of Brackley (where it enters Northamptonshire). Running on a slight curve between Brackley and Turweston, the route then follows a straight alignment passing close to the villages of Greatworth, Thorpe Mandeville, Chipping Warden, Aston le Walls and Lower Boddington (where it exits Northamptonshire). The route then continues through Warwickshire to enter Birmingham close to Water Orton. The route would terminate at a new city centre station built at Curzon/Fazeley Street in Birmingham‟s Eastside regeneration area, with the main line extending north to join the West Coast Main Line near Lichfield, enabling services to continue at conventional speeds to destinations further north. Maps of the route are included in Appendix 1. 4.4 In drawing up their proposals, HS2 Limited considered a long list of routes, which all appear to cross Northamptonshire. They refined this down to a smaller number of short- listed routes. Maps of the short-listed routes are included in Appendix 2. 4.5 More information can be accessed at http://www.hs2.org.uk/ 5. Impact on Northamptonshire communities close to the route 5.1 As detailed above, the proposed route passes close to a number of Northamptonshire villages. The alignment varies between cutting and embankment or viaduct, the latter usually where it crosses a flood plain. The main potential adverse impacts for residents would be noise, visual intrusion and possibly vibration. Some noise and visual impacts would also be experienced by communities further from the route, particularly where the alignment is on embankment or viaduct, dependent on the land form. Pending the completion by HS2 Limited of further work on environmental impact and proposed mitigation measures, it is not currently possible to confirm these environmental impacts. 5.2 The construction of the proposed route would obviously require the permanent acquisition of land. In addition to purely agricultural land, the proposed route would require the permanent acquisition of land at the following sites which are shown on the plans in Appendix 1: 1. Northampton Road Saw Mills, Brackley * 2. Substation near Hall Farm 3. Greatworth Park 4. Manor Cottages, Lower Thorpe 5. Chipping Warden School * 6. Chipping Warden Airfield* 7. Fir Tree Nursery, Boddington Note: * - not indicated as permanent land requirement on published plans, but land clearly required. 5.3 During the construction of HS1 between London and the Channel Tunnel a series of principles were established for dealing with the community impact and environmental mitigation which should be seen as a minimum for the Government to meet with respect to HS2.