HS2 REPORT: Seven times more jobs in Manchester than Meadowhall

‘Changing Britain’ by chairman of HS2 Ltd, Sir David Higgins, shows the scale of the economic disadvantage facing Sheffield City Region if the line is built as planned.

In contrast, HS2 figures show there would be between 9,700 and 12,600 jobs supported by a station in Sheffield city centre.

In a speech at the Northern Powerhouse International Conference and Exhibition in Manchester, Sir David said HS2 was not a “done deal.”

“We still have to get Parliament to pass the bill for Phase One, and get to grips with finalising the route for Phase Two.”

He then described the proposed station at Meadowhall as an ‘intermediate stop’.

“Our goal is to help rebalance the British economy by making it as easy to achieve the critical mass of skills, talent and creativity in the Midlands and the North as it is in London.

“Increasing capacity and improving connectivity is the key to that. That is why we will not just run trains between our largest cities, but have intermediate stops as well; why we will have stations at Birmingham interchange, Crewe, East Midlands, South Yorkshire and Manchester airport, as well as in Birmingham itself, Leeds and here at Piccadilly.

“Those intermediate stations are key to improving intra-regional connectivity as much as the services to London. But they tend not to do that elsewhere and that is one, legitimate reason for additional cost.”

He added: “False savings by one generation robs the next generation of the full value of the nation’s investment. We have paid a price for that short-termism and we shouldn’t ask the next generation to pay that price again.

“Political leaders on all sides, I think, recognise that and that is why we have had bi-partisan support at both national and a local level - support I do not in any way take for granted.”