Plans for a new railway line improving connections between Birmingham and Greater Manchester ‘at a fraction of the costs’ of the scrapped northern leg of HS2 have been announced.
A private consortium has proposed the new 50-mile Midlands-Northwest Rail Link following a review commissioned by the mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
The new line, which would rely on investment from the private sector, was vital to addressing growing strain on the existing West Coast Main Line (WCML) and M6 motorway, according to the report.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told the BBC: ‘There is no way on God's earth that the current West Coast Main Line and the M6 can be relied upon for decades.’
‘If you put in this extra connecting piece between those two areas, you will then have a network that can support growth in London, the south east, the Midlands, and, of course, the north west.’
