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'High speed rail link could benefit us'

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Published Date:
12 March 2010
The high speed rail link between London and Birmingham could still benefit Northampton passengers even though the 250mph trains will not stop in the county, an MP has said.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis confirmed that the £30 billion scheme would see upgraded tracks skirt by to the north of Brackley would not stop at any Northamptonshire station.

However Sally Keeble, the Labour MP for Northampton North and chair o
f the town's rail users' group, is optimistic that the plans can now open the door to faster train journeys from Castle Station.

She said: "We knew when the rail users group went to see Lord Adonis, before this announcement, that the high speed link would not benefit us directly but what we asked for is for some of the spare capacity for Northampton. We told him that as a fast-growing town and a designated growth area, we deserve more of the faster services than somewhere like Crewe for example.

"The service we have to Birmingham at the moment is pretty rubbish and that's what we told him."

Mrs Keeble said Lord Adonis seemed impressed and was keen on the proposal the rail users put to him, having expected them to argue for stops in Northamptonshire on the high speed line.

But the group pointed out to him that fast services from London to Scotland will no longer use the West Coast Mainline - the route that also connects Northampton to the capital and Birmingham - when the scheme gets underway in 2015, leaving spare slots that could easily be filled by fast trains serving Northampton.

The first part of the high speed route would start in 2017, cost between £15.8 billion and £17.4 billion and would reduce the journey time between the UK's two biggest cities to between 30 and 50 minutes.





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  • Last Updated: 12 March 2010 10:22 AM
  • Source: Northampton Chron & Echo
  • Location: Northampton
 
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St Lytham,

12/03/2010 09:16:55
The facts of the matter here are that neither of our MP's have managed to extract any benefit for Northampton from all of this. If either of them were any good they would by now have lobbied and have tacic agreement and something to tell the people on Northampton. Clinging on to headlines is all both our MP's do. "Lord Adonis seemed impressed" give me strength!!
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Roger Mellie,

Abington 12/03/2010 09:40:15
That's funny. According to BBC news the exact route of the track has yet to be proposed, consulted and agreed upon, so this is a story based on nothing more than supposition.
3

yonks,

12/03/2010 09:41:21
Perhaps North Londonshire will need to be moved further north.

Probably won't be long before even light bends round Northamptonshire
4

Hrolf.,

12/03/2010 09:51:57
The route has been proposed (to with several feet for most of it), consultation will begin but there's not much room for manoeuvre, and the agreement will come down to either yes or no. The BBC can say what they like, but they're not the people doing the work.

There were never going to be stops in Northamptonshire, it makes no sense to have a high speed link that keeps stopping. There won't be any major stops from Birmingham south.
This is a service to speed up links between major cities to compete with planes - a good thing. The fact it's missing Northamptonshire is therefore also good thing.
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St Lytham,

12/03/2010 10:36:27
For the many commuters to London and Birmingham a real prospect to have better service in both directions , utilising the forecast spare capacity, would be a good thing. For thoise that never leave the place of course it makes no difference.
6

mojo,

northampton 12/03/2010 10:58:54
£30 Billion? You can double that or treble it by the time the thing is built.
7

Jed Wilde,

12/03/2010 11:17:14
What planet is this woman on? If this new line does ever get built it will mean that the Northampton line will be nothing more than a second division track that is given no resources and will be relegated to a very slow local service. Well done Sally another Nu Labour nail in the coffin for Northamptonshire
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Cotton,

12/03/2010 12:57:54
sort out the "slow" link we all ready have first, then look at something else!
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Frankly Frank,

Sir Nigel Gresley 12/03/2010 15:44:10
Slow link? Currently you can get to London Euston or Birmingham New Street in less than an hour from Castle Station. The amount of rail traffic that will be freed up by the HSRL can only provide scope to improve the service to London and Birmingham from Northampton. It should also create more slots for freight thus easing road congestion. It's all a plus as far as I can see.
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County-man,

13/03/2010 07:52:47
The current service from Northampton to Euston is beset by delays for all sorts of causes, regularly. How does Sally Keeble imagine that a possible high-speed link from Birmingham to London that comes nowhere near here can do anything to improve it?
Does she travel the line daily down to London and back, paying £55 out of her own pocket, and then have to sit on the floor for the second-class return from Euston?
Try living in the real world, Sally. Steve Riches.
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