Congratulations to all the new Councillors across Reading and commiserations to all those who lost. Politics is a tough business sometimes and I recognise the huge sacrifice people make on behalf of their community to serve it and to contribute to making improvements. Thank you, whichever party you represent.
Last month the Prime Minister visited Reading to look at the massive investment going into our railway; Reading Station, Crossrail, Heathrow link, electrification and so on! He was asked by local journalists about my plan to upgrade Crossrail to semi fast services and suggested it was possible as “Rob seems to have a magical effect on the Chancellor of the Exchequer in terms of getting things done for Reading.” It was gratifying to hear from the PM no less that I have been able to persuade the Government to invest heavily in Reading over the years, and in doing so to represent the best interests of my constituents.
Having secured (obviously with the help and support of others) so much transport infrastructure money for Reading’s benefit, allows local people to look forward with confidence that we will have another lengthy period of prosperity. But the PM’s visit did trigger a number of emails to me asking that I oppose HS2. I was not prepared to do that, as HS2 is not the expensive white elephant that some would have us believe. Rather it is exactly the same type of infrastructure as Reading East is getting and it will deliver similar economic benefits to other parts of the UK. I do not think I should stand in its way.
But people do have questions, so let me see if I can give you some answers. What is HS2? HS2 will be the first new railway line built north of London for 120 years. It will link 8 of Britain's 10 largest cities, serving 1 in 5 of the UK population. Why do we need HS2? Because we face a rail capacity crisis as demand for long distance rail travel has doubled in the past 15 years to 125 million journeys a year and all rail journeys doubled from 1995-2012 from 750 million a year to 1.5 billion a year. The West Coast Mainline is now the busiest combined passenger and freight railway line in Europe.
By the beginning of the 2030s, there could be as many as 200 passengers standing for every 100 seats on key services leaving Euston in the evening.
If we are to deal with this crisis a new North-South line is essential. HS2 will increase capacity from London to Birmingham by 143%. Enhancements to the existing railway would increase capacity by just 53%. Releasing capacity by building a new North-South line offers huge potential for increased freight services - meaning fewer cars and lorries on our roads, cutting congestion and carbon. But it will also mean quicker journeys: Central Manchester just 68 minutes from London or Central Birmingham to East Midlands in just 19 minutes. This will change the economic geography of our country.
The costs are just 10 per cent more to build a new high speed line rather than a new standard speed equivalent. Widening current lines would be hugely disruptive and could lead to 14 years of weekend closures, according to engineers. These are all important and relevant, but I want the wealth created to be shared right across our country. I have been leading the effort to do it for Reading, so I could not refuse that opportunity to every other region.