WCPD Managing Director highlights Crewe as integral part to success of HS2
West Coast Partnership Development’s Managing Director has called for a vision for Crewe station.
- Shamit Gaiger calls on need for a vision for Crewe taking a place perspective
- Calls for collaboration with local authorities and businesses for future regeneration
- Panel discussion around HS2 was held in Crewe at annual High Speed Rail Group conference
West Coast Partnership Development’s Managing Director has highlighted the need for a vision for Crewe station as an interchange to make HS2 a success.
Speaking as part of a panel at the annual High Speed Rail Group conference held in Crewe, Shamit Gaiger explained that the station will be an important interchange between future high-speed, intercity and regional services, bringing the North West closer together through better rail connectivity.
She pointed out that the region has an opportunity for regeneration with HS2 - calling on the conference’s audience of local stakeholders and business leaders to work with the rail industry collaboratively on building growth across Cheshire.
She was joined on the panel by Councillor Craig Browne, Deputy Leader and Chair of the Highways and Transport Committee, Cheshire East Council; Mark Haase, CEO, SG World (a business based in Crewe); Suzanne Mathieson, Mott Macdonald; and Alan Over, Director General, Department for Transport.
They all agreed that HS2 is for future generations and that the focus should be around generating more local jobs, more prosperity, more homes and better connectivity across the region.
Speaking after the event, Shamit Gaiger said: “Crewe is constantly on our minds, as it will be the gateway linking the new high-speed route to the existing network. We need a vision for Crewe as an interchange to make HS2 a success.
“High-speed rail brings great opportunities to the regions along the new HS2 route for regeneration, and we need to work with the local authorities to understand where the forgotten neighbourhoods are and what needs to be done because transport can’t do it by itself.”
ends
picture in text: From left to right - Mark Haase, CEO, SG World; Suzanne Mathieson, Mott Macdonald; Alan Over, Director General, Department for Transport; Sameena Ali-Khan, Event Host; Shamit Gaiger, Managing Director, WCPD; Councillor Craig Browne, Deputy Leader and Chair of the Highways and Transport Committee, Cheshire East Council
Notes to editors
About West Coast Partnership Development
West Coast Partnership Development (WCPD) is designing and mobilising new high-speed services for the UK. These services will run on the new High Speed 2 (HS2) route and the existing railway, delivering quicker journeys and more capacity between London and Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Cumbria and Scotland.
Its goal is to maximise the benefits of the significant investment from the Department for Transport into the new High Speed 2 (HS2) railway, as well as the upgrades to the railway on the West Coast Mainline.