NORTH East leaders have endorsed a cross-party letter to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to give the eastern HS2 the green light as soon as possible.

The joint letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson comes from Cllr Ben Bradley MP, Conservative Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council and MP for Mansfield, and Cllr James Lewis, Labour Leader of Leeds City Council.

The letter explains that “rail freight is vital to the eastern regions” and describes HS2 as “the best opportunity to create a substantial increase in capacity for rail freight in the UK”.

The two leaders stress the importance that freight, transport and logistics play in the national economy and recent challenges, explaining how: The rail freight sector carries over £30 billion worth of goods per year, with the industry contributing £870 million per annum to the UK economy and critical pinch points from the East Midlands to Newcastle currently constrain conventional network at capacity.

Highlighting the impact on North East England, the letter describes how the importance of rail freight is vital to the UK’s eastern regions and cannot be over-emphasised because capacity on the East Coast Mainline is currently constrained to just six passenger trains per hour north of Northallerton due to the lack of upgrades to reroute freight.

The Eastern Leg of HS2 is pivotal by creating additional capacity on our existing routes to better connect supply chains, support the economic recovery and our efforts to ‘build back better’, while enabling net zero carbon targets to be achieved.

Sedgefield Conservative MP Paul Howell said: “County Durham is a manufacturing powerhouse essential for the North-East’s status as the UK’s net exporter.

“That is why freight matters across the North, the UK and to the world. Bottlenecks on the East Coast Mainline don’t just restrict passenger journeys north of Northallerton they cost industry vital trade and clog up our roads, and this will only get worse as we need to cut carbon to remain competitive.

“The Government is committed to levelling up our country so let’s get on with HS2’s eastern leg and let our communities thrive.”

Conservative MP for Darlington, Peter Gibson MP said:”Darlington and the whole of the North East were transformed by the birth of the railways 200 years ago.

“As the United Kingdom looks to recover post-Covid and deliver on the levelling up agenda we must once again look to the railways as an engine of growth for our region and press ahead with investing in our rail network.”

Middlesbrough’s Labour Andy McDonald MP said: “Teesside led the world by making and exporting steel and chemicals, but today our overcrowded rail network means both passengers and industry are held back.

Committing now to HS2’s eastern leg would open up vital new capacity along the East Coast Mainline that is bottlenecked north of Northallerton. North East England has a vital role to play in Britain’s economy and global trade so we call on the Prime Minister to recognise why freight matters and sign off HS2 East so we can get on with the job.”

 

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated County Durham Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054