West Midlands and South West poised for billions of transport investment from HS2 savings

Billions of pounds of transport investment will be delivered to the West Midlands and the South West as savings from the HS2 project will be redirected, according to the UK government.

Whitehall said that £36 billion will be reinvested in hundreds of projects to deliver more buses, reopen railway stations and fund new and improved roads.

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The Midlands is set to receive £9.7 billion, with £1.75 billion to deliver the Midlands Rail Hub in full.

This will benefit more than 50 stations, reaching over 7 million people, including those in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Hereford, Malvern, Worcester, Tamworth, Burton, Derby, Nottingham, Nuneaton and Leicester.

Services on most routes will increase by 50% to 100%, while Birmingham’s Cross-City line will see a train every ten minutes, said the government.

The number of trains between Birmingham and Leicester will be doubled, while £100 million will be shared across the North and Midlands to support the development and rollout of London-style contactless and smart ticketing.

Among other improvements, the government said £250 million will fully fund ten smaller road schemes in the Midlands including the Shrewsbury North Western Relief Road and the A4123 Birchley Island, near Oldbury, while a Midlands road fund worth nearly £650 million will be launched for new road schemes.

In addition, £230 million will be invested in increasing bus services in the Midlands.

The first phase of HS2 between Birmingham Curzon Street and Euston, London will still be delivered, but the route will not be extended, meaning the South West is also set to benefit to the tune of £6.5 billion, said the government.

This will include the reopening of passenger services to Wellington and Cullompton, and five miles of track will be reinstated, with a new station at Tavistock to connect with Plymouth.

The so-called South West resilience programme will be completed in full, making the vital route between Exeter and Plymouth via Dawlish more resilient in extreme weather.

There will be £140 million in funding to ensure 12 road schemes across the South West region, including the A38 in North Somerset.

There will also be access to a £2.8 billion roads resurfacing fund for the South West, South East and the East of England to combat potholes.

The west of England will also receive around £0.7 billion from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 (CRSTS2) budget, plus a further £0.1 billion on top – funded from HS2, according to Downing Street.

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