HS2: Breathing new life into Yorkshire

News this week that the proposed HS2 station for Leeds will be integrated within the city’s existing railway station, will be welcomed with open arms by many who live and work in Yorkshire. James Crawley assesses the opportunity.

James Crawley
03 December 2015

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HS2

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The move away from the original Leeds station location in New Lane, which was arguably too isolated and removed from the city centre, will have a dramatic impact on the city and position it as ‘The Yorkshire Hub’, a term coined by Sir David Higgins in his latest report.

Even today the region has its success stories, for example two thirds of the world’s turbo chargers are manufactured in the areas around Huddersfield and Bradford and recent research has named Leeds as the best big city in England to live in. The arrival of HS2 into Leeds city centre will only serve to boost local business’ growth and increase the region’s connectivity to the rest of the UK and beyond.

"The region is facing numerous challenges on this rapid path of growth and must sensitively integrate the new with the old while simultaneously causing minimum disruption to existing services."

By placing HS2 at the heart of the existing rail network, airports and even the motorway network, Yorkshire will ultimately become a communication super hub that will transform the North.

The increased access to London will of course play a major part in supporting this transformation but so too will Yorkshire’s improved connection to other northern cities including Manchester, Sheffield and Newcastle, arising from the programmed investment by the Combined Authorities and partners in the regions existing infrastructure. 

This regional investment will increase capacity and bring down journey times creating a more mobile and flexible workforce.  This will in effect increase the size of the skilled workforce pool in the region, making the North a compelling proposition for business to grow and relocate.  Proposals for HS3 to create a high-speed east-west link will eventually see cities connected to each other within an hour by rail – a time comparable to travelling the length of the District line in London.

With delivery of the new HS2 Leeds station not expected until 2033, the challenges in the more immediate terms include ensuring improvements are made in existing infrastructure, such as Leeds railway station, to improve existing services, boost local business growth and increase the region’s presence in the international marketplace. 

"With delivery of the new HS2 Leeds station not expected until 2033, the challenges in the more immediate terms include ensuring improvements are made in existing infrastructure"

We will also begin to see a greater need for housing too. Just last month, we released a proposed solution to the housing crisis. This proposal centres on the creation of an apolitical National Housing Service that would provide the sustainable delivery of nearly 1.5 million additional new homes of all tenures across the UK over the next 30 years. It’s innovate ideas like these that need to be explored in order to meet the future demands now placed on the regions, including how we can use infrastructure to unlock new well accessed housing development

The region is facing numerous challenges on this rapid path of growth and must sensitively integrate the new with the old while simultaneously causing minimum disruption to existing services. But if we are to embrace the title of ‘The Yorkshire Hub’ with both hands, we must make these necessary investments and improvements that provide confidence to stakeholders, government and investors in the more immediate term. 

James Crawley is an associate with Arcadis based in Leeds