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George Osborne opens bidding for £11.8bn north England HS2 contract in China
The bill for construction of the first stage of HS2 from London to Birmingham has yet to receive royal assent
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne prepares to board a train from the city of Urumqi in north west China to Turpan during a five day visit to China Photo: PA
By Lucy Clarke-Billings
11:09 PM BST 23 Sep 2015
George Osborne will open the bidding for £11.8bn of contracts to rebuild the HS2 high speed rail line, while revealing he hopes soon to get a 'green light' to restart the electrification of the Manchester to Leeds line, the Financial Times has reported.
Mr Osborne wants to win Chinese investment in HS2 and for regeneration projects in the north of England, as he concludes a five-day tour of China with a visit to the western city of Chengdu on Thursday.
The bill for construction of the first stage of HS2 from London to Birmingham has yet to receive royal assent.
According to reports in the Financial Times today, the chancellor will say: “We are entering a golden era of co-operation between our two countries and it’s crucial that businesses and communities across the UK feel the full benefit of forging closer links with China.”
George Osborne visits an industrial area in the city of Urumqi in north west China, after he became the first serving government minister to travel to Xinjiang province. Photo: PA
The HS2 contracts cover the construction of tunnels and the surface route of the first stage of the line from London to Birmingham.
The news of Osborne’s China bid comes after the Telelegraph revealed HS2’s central London terminus at Euston may not open for the start of the new service, with trains finishing at a station in the suburbs for several years.
The Government is examining whether to end the service at Old Oak Common, near Harlesden, about six miles west of Euston.
Passengers would have to change to local Crossrail trains to reach the centre.
Launching HS2 only as far as Old Oak Common, known as “Option 11” at the Department for Transport, would badly damage the scheme’s promised city centre to city centre journey appeal.
For many central London destinations, any time saved on the high-speed journey from Birmingham would be cancelled out by the need to change platforms and wait for a local connecting train.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, called Old Oak Common “the Ryanair solution, stopping in the middle of nowhere.”
George Osborne leaves Turpan, north west China where he paid a private visit to the ancient ruins of the Silk Road settlement Yar City dating back three thousand years Photo: PA
Although the area is scheduled to become a major redevelopment zone, it is currently an isolated and run-down industrial neighbourhood.
Changing to Crossrail at Old Oak Common would be the same or quicker for travellers to some central London stops on the Crossrail route, including Paddington and Bond Street.
Last year, plans to completely rebuild the station were scrapped because HS2 “simply couldn’t get the costs and benefits of the scheme to balance in an affordable way,” according to its development director for the project, Rupert Walker.
Revised plans presented earlier this month keep two thirds of the existing 1960s terminus, but add a new station alongside it for HS2 trains.
The redevelopment is now scheduled to take 16 years, seven years longer than before.
George Osborne opens bidding for £11.8bn north England HS2 contract in China - Telegraph
The bill for construction of the first stage of HS2 from London to Birmingham has yet to receive royal assent
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne prepares to board a train from the city of Urumqi in north west China to Turpan during a five day visit to China Photo: PA
By Lucy Clarke-Billings
11:09 PM BST 23 Sep 2015
George Osborne will open the bidding for £11.8bn of contracts to rebuild the HS2 high speed rail line, while revealing he hopes soon to get a 'green light' to restart the electrification of the Manchester to Leeds line, the Financial Times has reported.
Mr Osborne wants to win Chinese investment in HS2 and for regeneration projects in the north of England, as he concludes a five-day tour of China with a visit to the western city of Chengdu on Thursday.
The bill for construction of the first stage of HS2 from London to Birmingham has yet to receive royal assent.
According to reports in the Financial Times today, the chancellor will say: “We are entering a golden era of co-operation between our two countries and it’s crucial that businesses and communities across the UK feel the full benefit of forging closer links with China.”
George Osborne visits an industrial area in the city of Urumqi in north west China, after he became the first serving government minister to travel to Xinjiang province. Photo: PA
The HS2 contracts cover the construction of tunnels and the surface route of the first stage of the line from London to Birmingham.
The news of Osborne’s China bid comes after the Telelegraph revealed HS2’s central London terminus at Euston may not open for the start of the new service, with trains finishing at a station in the suburbs for several years.
The Government is examining whether to end the service at Old Oak Common, near Harlesden, about six miles west of Euston.
Passengers would have to change to local Crossrail trains to reach the centre.
Launching HS2 only as far as Old Oak Common, known as “Option 11” at the Department for Transport, would badly damage the scheme’s promised city centre to city centre journey appeal.
For many central London destinations, any time saved on the high-speed journey from Birmingham would be cancelled out by the need to change platforms and wait for a local connecting train.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, called Old Oak Common “the Ryanair solution, stopping in the middle of nowhere.”
George Osborne leaves Turpan, north west China where he paid a private visit to the ancient ruins of the Silk Road settlement Yar City dating back three thousand years Photo: PA
Although the area is scheduled to become a major redevelopment zone, it is currently an isolated and run-down industrial neighbourhood.
Changing to Crossrail at Old Oak Common would be the same or quicker for travellers to some central London stops on the Crossrail route, including Paddington and Bond Street.
Last year, plans to completely rebuild the station were scrapped because HS2 “simply couldn’t get the costs and benefits of the scheme to balance in an affordable way,” according to its development director for the project, Rupert Walker.
Revised plans presented earlier this month keep two thirds of the existing 1960s terminus, but add a new station alongside it for HS2 trains.
The redevelopment is now scheduled to take 16 years, seven years longer than before.
George Osborne opens bidding for £11.8bn north England HS2 contract in China - Telegraph
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