A survey which reveals that HS2 will deliver greater economic benefits to the West Midlands than other UK region, Including London, was today greeted as a 'ringing endorsement' of the project by business leaders in the Midlands.
Research by KPMG, commissioned by HS2 Ltd, showed that the West Midlands regional economy would benefit from an annual boost of £1.5bn to £3.1bn, compared to growth of £2.5bn to £2.8bn in Greater London, £600m to £1.3bn in Greater Manchester and £1bn in Leeds.
New analysis by KPMG reveals that HS2 could boost the country’s economy by £15 billion a year and that the regions will be the biggest winners from the project.
The report also gives a breakdown of the economic benefits for each HS2 city region, with variations in the impact on particular regions depending on competition between regions and how sensitive businesses are to differences in costs between places.
It shows that HS2 will give the Birmingham city region economy a yearly boost equivalent to 2.1-4.2 per cent of the city region’s GDP. For Manchester city region the figure is 0.8 per cent-1.7per cent, for Leeds city region, 1.6 per cent and for London 0.5 per cent.
Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of commerce Group (BCCG), said: "The KPMG report is a ringing endorsement of everything those of us who support HS2 have been saying. Critics may say that the report is bound to be favourable because it was commissioned by HS2 Ltd. But KMPG's work is independent from a firm of highly respected accountants whose results cannot be swayed.
"This tremendous news for the West Midlands highlights the benefits high speed rail and the additional capacity this will bring to our region. We’ll be better connected– benefiting from fast, direct links with major UK and European cities and boosted by capacity released on our existing lines to run more freight and local services.
"Research by Centro, the West Midlands transport authority, concluded HS2 will deliver more than 50,000 jobs to the West Midlands as benefits are increased by improvements to the regional network. Centro Is working with authorities across the region, including Solihull, southern Staffordshire and the Black Country, to look at links between Metro, existing rail, bus and cycle routes with high speed rail. And, as transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has said, the £42 billion budget is fixed - there is no blank cheque and another upgrade to the West Coast Main Line, which is already operating close to its limits, would be like ‘trying to run the M1 up a busy high street’.”