THE Rail Industry Association says scrapping HS2’s proposed Golborne link will create a West Coast Main Line bottleneck “which in turn will negatively impact outcomes for passengers, decarbonisation and levelling-up.”
Intended to deliver faster journey times and a full HS2 service, while also releasing capacity on the West Coast Main Line, the 13-mile spur would have left the main HS2 route north of Knutsford and connected to the WCML south of Wigan.
The Union Connectivity Review published last November suggested that it did not resolve all of the constraints and an alternative connection to the WCML may be more beneficial. Unless an alternative is found, however, HS2 traffic bound for North West England and Scotland will have to use the already busy WCML north of Crewe.
Confirming the intention for the link’s removal from the Parliamentary Bill after its second reading, HS2 Minister Andrew Stephenson said the Government would “look again at alternatives”.