High Speed 2
The construction of HS2 will create around 25,000 jobs and some 2,000 apprenticeships, reaching a peak in the early 2020s. The Government views the potential for urban regeneration and job creation as a key benefit in these economically uncertain times. As a cautious estimate, it is suggested that building HS2 will help the wider British economy by creating up to 100,000 additional jobs. The Core Cities group is more bullish, suggesting that once all three phases are up and running there is the potential for 400,000 new jobs.
While much has been made of the potential dramatic impact of new / expanded city centre stations at London Euston, Birmingham Curzon Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds, less attention has been paid to the emerging proposals at Manchester Airport and in the West and East Midlands, where Parkway stations are at the heart of exciting plans for growth (see ‘East Midlands gets behind HS2’, pp14-15 in supplement in last month’s issue).
THE UK CENTRAL HUB
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the West Midlands, where the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GB&S LEP) is firming up plans to create a concentration of high-value businesses know…
