AIRPORT BOSS SLAMS RAIL PLAN

28-08-2009

The boss of Birmingham International Airport has come out fighting over Network Rail’s plans for a high speed rail route from London to the city centre. Under proposals unveiled this week, BIA would be bypassed, despite the development of a runway extension aimed at improving transport links to the USA and Far East.

In a hard-hitting statement, airport CEO Paul Kehoe takes a sideswipe at Network Rail, warning that its “broad brush” approach could blight parts of the West Midlands – just as parts of Kent were damaged by British Rail’s vague plans for the Channel Tunnel in the 1980’s.

He also questions claims that the scheme would cut domestic air travel if it doesn’t stop at airports – and he sends a reminder that the ultimate decision on the supercharged rail route from the capital to Scotland will ultimately rest with High Speed 2, the quango charged with the job by the government.

Airport insiders suggest the likeliest route for the scheme –– would run alongside the existing West Coast Main Line anyway.

To squeeze the maximum value from a £34billion investment, they say they argue it would make sense to have a stop at both BIA and the city centre, almost certainly at a new station.

Kehoe commented: “It is just as well that Network Rail does not have the final say in any High-speed proposals; indeed its monopoly over such infrastructure projects has been called in to question this week by the Shadow Transport Secretary, Theresa Villiers.

“Whilst I welcome any report that supports High-Speed Rail, this minority report shows little joined-up thinking, does not appear to integrate transport modes as is current Government policy, and by not being specific it harks back to the ‘broad brush’ approach that got British Rail in to so much trouble when it blighted Kent in the 1980s with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

“Some would consider it disingenuous for Network Rail to make sweeping statements over reducing domestic air travel, when it appears to rule out actually serving at least two of the UK’s busiest Airports.

“We believe in an integrated transport system, and High-Speed Rail must serve not just Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition centre, but provide an ‘out of City’ station for those in the rest of the region that do not live in City centres.

“Or does Network Rail seriously suggest that people from Worcester, Wolverhampton and Walsall all pile into Birmingham City Centre, adding to the challenges of the A38 and City-centre parking?

“In common with the recent West Coast upgrade, this plan seems predicated on getting to Manchester, the North of England and Scotland as quickly as possible, and does not appear to take the West Midlands seriously – with no regional ‘Parkway’ and even the proposed location for a Birmingham City-centre station being a complete mystery.

If we are not careful, much of the Midlands traffic which uses Birmingham International will be saddled with a tired alternative – the Pendolino service – and it will be quicker to reach Edinburgh from London than it will to reach much of the West Midlands region.

“The Network Rail report should serve as a ‘wake up call’ for the region. It must be challenged and Business must make its views known to High Speed 2, the company actually charged with looking at a route from London to the West Midlands”.

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