Birmingham leaders in row over high speed rail link
Birmingham’s political and business leaders are locked in a furious behind-the-scenes row over plans to bring high- speed rail services to the city.
Council leader Mike Whitby is pushing for trains to come straight into Birmingham city centre, creating a direct link with London – and has made this clear to senior members of the Government and the Conservative opposition.
But many business leaders argue it is essential that high-speed services serve the National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham Airport, eight miles to the east of the city centre.
They fear that sending trains straight to central Birmingham could place the NEC at a disadvantage against rival exhibition centres on the Continent.
And they claim that excluding the airport from the new network could damage economic growth in the West Midlands.
Both Labour and the Conservatives have announced they will build a high-speed links connecting London and Birmingham, but the proposals are at a very early stage and no decisions have been made about which stations will be used, or whether new ones will be needed.
This has sparked a frenzy of lobbying, with local authorities trying to influence the Government and the opposition.
