Across the world, investment in high speed rail projects is now seen as a proven catalyst for urban and regional regeneration. Antony Oliver spoke to HS2 commercial director Beth West about how the UK will follow suit.

Six months from a General Election it is rare that UK politicians agree across party lines. Yet when it comes to the crucial need to invest in a high speed rail network, all remain resolutely behind the £50bn plans.

The Independent Transport Commission’s latest report “Ambitions and opportunities: Understanding the spatial effects of high speed rail” published in November, will have therefore made welcome reading.

The report from ITC makes a compelling case, based on research into schemes in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, that high speed rail can not only help boost the UK’s transport capacity but also act as a major catalyst for economic regeneration of the country’s cities and regions.

“The tipping point, I think, was last year when Ed Balls made his comments about the project at the Labour Party conference. That is when northern cities leaders said “hold on – actually we want this”. Beth West, HS2.

The critical factor in ensuring that maximum benefits flow from this investment catalyst, according to HS2 commercial director Beth West, is first having a vision for what the city or region needs and then having leaders capable of delivering that vision. 

“The reason I got into infrastructure is that it is the backbone of letting businesses do what they do - they cannot be entrepreneurial unless there is good infrastructure,” she explains. “But our research has seen what has happened internationally and you have to plan. You can’t just hope that something is going to come along organically.”

Without question there has been a huge shift across the UK regions to whole-heartedly embrace the regeneration benefits of the project as it moves across the nation from London to Leeds and Manchester via Birmingham.

“The tipping point, I think, was last year when Ed Balls made his comments about the project at the Labour Party conference,” says West. “That is when northern cities leaders said “hold on – actually we want this”. It was that threat of not having it that made them take action. The landscape is now totally different.”

Lord Deighton’s Growth Task Force made a big difference, she says, not least as he posed the question as “how can we get more out of HS2?” rather than just asking whether it was a good thing.

The David Higgins reports that followed talked about connectivity and pointed out unambiguously that  regeneration and transport go hand in hand. All of which built support and gave a boost to confidence compared to the project’s early days.

Two years ago HS2’s regeneration strategy was built around the so-called “plug in station” concept, a radical idea to prepare and kick start development zones around HS2’s new station sites in advance of the railway’s arrival.

“You have to create [projects] of manageable size so that it is possible to see success. One of the benefits of devolution is that by bringing it to a local level it should be more manageable and so be achievable.” Beth West, HS2.

To a certain extent this strategy still exists but, explains West, it is now far more couched in reality.

“Ideally we would still like to have the regeneration start happing before the station is built,” West says. “But a lot comes down to getting good masterplan in each location and to local authorities knowing what they want and being able to define that.”

There has, she says, been a great effort across government to think about how to help to make this happen and, she says, one of the big changes with HS2 today is the acceptance that it must engage with the regions and communities beyond the railway and station footprint.

“It is not just railway engineers with their head down building railway. It is recognising the context and what it means for the area,” she explains.

“You cannot just plonk something that works in London, into Birmingham or Manchester – you have to make it work from where you are,” West adds. “Birmingham, for example, has done a really good job changing its masterplan to reflect what has been going on with thinking around Curzon Street station and it now absorbs the station more effectively into the region’s masterplan.”

The reality is that one size does not fit all across the UK. What works to drive regeneration in Euston will almost certainly not work in Sheffield. 

“It is not just railway engineers with their head down building railway. It is recognising the context and what it means for the area.” Beth West, HS2

That means working closely with local leaders – be they from the local authorities or from local enterprise partnerships or other stakeholders – to really understand how to get good outcomes and, of course, to ensure that everyone agrees what is meant by a good outcome.

From this perspective the post Scottish referendum rush towards increased devolution of power to the regions should, says West, potentially assist by driving local involvement and decision making.

“The further that you are from it the harder it is to see what the issues are,” she explain. “You have to create [projects] of manageable size so that it is possible to see success. One of the benefits of devolution is that by bringing it to a local level it should be more manageable and so be achievable.”

Manchester, she points out, is a great example of how to make things happen.

“Where Manchester gets its success is that it has a clear view of what it is trying to achieve and then is able to take people with it,” West explains. “Success comes from local authorities defining a vision around what they want then working with us, with the government and the private sector to bring in investment to start building.” She adds: “It has to come from the local communities. Asking “what do you want?” and then having flexibility in designs so that they can evolve. Because things do evolve.”