We should give HS2 our unequivocal support

This week marked the conclusion of the Committee Stage of the High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill, which legislates for the construction of the first phase of HS2 between London and Birmingham. As with Crossrail before it, the trains may be high speed, but the legislative journey sometimes seems less so.

However, patience is a virtue when it comes to campaigning for key infrastructure projects. The recent unveiling of the purple-branded Elizabeth Line by the Queen has given HS2 devotees renewed energy to keep up the momentum. The cutting of a ribbon may come sooner than we think.

I have always been a supporter of greater investment in our railway network and after scrutinising the HS2 Bill line by line I remain convinced that bringing high speed rail to the UK is essential.

We must secure greater capacity on our railway network. It’s a simple as that. Demand on our railways has exploded over recent years. Total passenger journeys have more than doubled from 735 million in 1995 to 1.5 billion journeys in 2013. By 2026, peak demand is projected to hit 250% of capacity at Euston, 200% of capacity at Birmingham New Street and 175% of capacity at Manchester Piccadilly. The West Coast Main Line will be full by 2024.

During morning peak-time services, around 3,000 passengers arrive standing into London Euston or Birmingham each day, unable to get a seat despite paying their full fare. These are not journeys of ten or twenty minutes, but up to two hours or more. My wife once had to sit on the floor outside the toilet from London to Manchester, 8 months pregnant and with a two year old toddler in tow. This is not what should be offered from a twenty-first century rail service in fifth richest country in the world.

Yet this increase in demand should be warmly welcomed. Imagine the chaos and the carbon we would have to deal with if each of those commuters arrived by car. We need HS2 to ensure our railway network is fit for purpose. We also need it to transform the Northern economy and address the inequality between North and South.

The two most common complaints against HS2 are wholly without foundation. The first – that HS2 will be a “rich man’s railway” is incoherent. The laws of supply and demand tell us that if we do not build more capacity, then prices will rise as ever more people chase a limited number of seats on trains. Building HS2 will keep train fares down.

The second criticism – that if we build a new line it should be with standard technology rather than high speed line – also does not add-up. A new rail line built to traditional speed would still incur 90% of the costs, but offer only a fraction of the capacity that HS2 will provide. This is the right project.

If we are to make more than rhetoric out of Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse, devolution and infrastructure investment must go hand in hand.  We cannot seriously hope to attract FTSE and global companies into long-term investment in the North West, Yorkshire and beyond until we can give them some certainty that the gross under-investment in infrastructure in these regions will finally come to an end.

I ambitious for what HS2 can deliver. Jobs. Growth. Connectivity. Better wages. Better career paths. Better homes. London as Manchester’s neighbour, allowing hard-pressed Londoners to spend more time in the UK’s first city. HS2 stations at both Manchester Airport and Manchester City Centre making Greater Manchester a nexus for domestic, European and global travel.

My frontbench colleagues are right to scrutinise the budget for HS2, and of course to ensure the powers and resources granted to Ministers to build HS2 are properly used. But above all, Labour must be unequivocal in its support for HS2. The North is open for business, but at the moment, the door is ajar. It’s time to speed up High Speed 2, and blow the door wide open.

Jonathan Reynolds MP is the Labour and Cooperative Member of Parliament for Stalybridge and Hyde, member of the BIS Select Committee and former shadow rail minister.