Welcoming the HS2 Growth Taskforce Report, Robert Hough Chair of the Liverpool City Region LEP said: “We specifically made the case for why investment around High Speed 2 stations can stimulate growth and how we, as a City Region, will work to ensure that a future High Speed line can ‘plug-in’ and enhance to our existing network maximising the economic opportunity for the City Region as a whole. We are therefore happy to see these points referenced in the Task-Force report and are well on the way to implementing many of the recommendations made.”
“We remain committed to working with Government to develop the business case for why a High Speed route should come all the way to Liverpool City Centre and specifically made the case for investment in Lime Street when we presented our Growth Plan proposals to the Cities Minister and Lord Heseltine last month.”
“We have always seen High Speed 2 as a critical part of our Growth Plan for the City Region and we have made this clear to both the Board of High Speed 2 and to the Task Force when we met them. We have also stressed the economic potential of the SuperPORT and of the City Region acting as a freight and logistics hub for the wider North and are therefore encouraged to see the ever greater recognition of freight as an important consideration. Our Growth Plan will be seeking over £100m of investment in our transport network to support our freight and logistics ambitions and up to 40,000 jobs, and we will continue to press the case for investment in the network working closely with Greater Manchester and other northern City Regions.”
“We therefore welcome the 19 recommendations in the report, especially as many relate specifically to the asks we made of the Task Force in January and February this year.”