Whilst it has been said that the Green party has now changed it’s stance on HS2 to one of support for the project, this does not actually seem to be the case due to amendments making that support contingent on factors which have not been met, and quite frankly we’re not sure they can ever be met. The motion and the three amendments as voted on at conference are available via this link, but for clarity members of the Coventry Green party have kindly done all the ‘insert’ ‘add’ ‘delete’ and ‘replace’ work, and this is what you end up with as the ACTUAL policy. We’ve highlighted the part in question.
The Green Party recognises that transport pollution remains stubbornly high, and
that there is a need to reduce transport demand to sustainable levels. In tandem,
there is a simultaneous need to make the greenest modes of transport the easiest
and cheapest modes of transport. This necessitates a transformative transition away
from polluting modes such as cars and planes towards efficient, electrified public
transport. This is consistent with the Party’s strategy to reduce: use of materials,
batteries, chemicals and fuels; carbon emissions; air/particulate pollution; noise
pollution; urban sprawl; land take from biofuel production; poor public health; and
road deaths of adults, children and wildlife.
Accordingly, the Green Party supports high speed rail in principle. The Party
recognises that high speed rail lines free up capacity on other rail lines that serve
regional and local rail services allowing for more frequent trains to run on these lines.
High speed rail lines themselves reduce domestic flights and car journeys for long
distance travel because they can better compete for shorter journey times. The uplift
in passenger capacity also provides an opportunity to dramatically reduce rail fares.
The Party’s support for high speed rail in practice is nonetheless contingent on its
delivery aligning with Green values.
Specifically, these values will necessitate:
· Proper timely data releases relating to the ongoing impacts of HS2, using up
to date biodiversity metrics and not excluding any habitats;
· Limiting adverse impacts on biodiversity and bioabundance, and, where
adverse impacts are unavoidable, securing a 10% biodiversity net gain within the
development site;
· Independent monitoring of impacts and remediation schemes; and
· Proper compensation for those affected by the scheme’s construction.
The Green Party calls for a local transport revolution to be implemented upon the
completion of HS2 and the resultant uplift in rail capacity. This capacity should be
used by transferring intercity expresses from the existing railway network to HS2,
and then utilising the newly freed-up space for new local services to, in and around
towns and cities across England and Wales. Specifically, the Green Party calls for
these new services to be directed to the following towns and cities:
(i) Those which would benefit from new capacity by virtue of being located along
a main line which would be relieved by HS2, such as Bedford, Doncaster, Grantham,
Leicester, Loughborough, Luton, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Stamford and
Stevenage;
(ii) Those which would benefit from new capacity following the removal of
network bottlenecks in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester, such as Bolton,
Bradford, Bristol, Cheltenham, Coventry, Huddersfield, Northampton, Oxford,
Warrington, Worcester and communities in north and mid-Wales; and
(iii) Those which would benefit directly from new connectivity, namely
Birmingham, Derby, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield.
To encourage the switchover from cars and planes to electrified trains, the Green
Party supports the slashing of rail fares which should be possible, as it is in
Germany, France and Spain, once the supply of thousands of new seats on
improved rail services has been delivered.
In addition to the above, the Green Party supports utilising the uplift in rail capacity to
switch freight from lorries and planes to trains to as full an extent as logistically
possible.
The Green Party recognises that the first phase of HS2 between London and
Birmingham is well under construction, although its implementation has had
significant ecological impacts. The austerity and mismanagement which have
prolonged these impacts must end. The project must ensure that the ecological costs
of HS2 are outweighed by wider environmental benefits—but half an HS2 brings too
many costs and too few benefits. The full network could be used to reduce aviation
and car dependency, but only if the Conservatives’ ill-timed cuts to Phases 2a and
2b of HS2 are now reversed. In order to maximise the benefits of high speed rail, the
Green Party will therefore hold the UK Government and HS2 Ltd. to account to
ensure: delivery and efficient use of Phases 2a and 2b to Manchester and Leeds (via
Sheffield); greater public control of railways; maximum capacity release on the rail
network; a subsequent slashing of rail fares to reduce car journeys; and a
subsequent ban on domestic commercial aviation within England and Wales. In
doing so, the Party will ensure the delivery of environmental benefits and
improvements to regional inequality, providing critical support for an underground
through station at Manchester Piccadilly, 11 platforms at London Euston, the
Golborne Link (or a better replacement) which enables HS2 services to be easily
used on parts of the existing West Coast Main Line to Lancashire, Cumbria and
Scotland as well as the originally planned bicycle routes alongside parts of the HS2
route accordance with existing Green Party policy. Station design will be passenger-
led and community-focused, with excellent cycling connections and level boarding to
ensure accessibility for all. Positive environmental outcomes will be delivered by
each of the stations achieving a BREEAM status of excellent or better.
To further maximise wider environmental benefits and improvements to regional
inequality, the Green Party calls for HS2 to be improved further by funding and
building Northern Powerhouse Rail which includes a high speed rail line from
Liverpool to Leeds with through stations in Manchester and Bradford. This will
maximise efficient use of HS2 infrastructure in Manchester including potentially
sharing the underground HS2 station at Manchester Piccadilly. The Green Party calls
for HS2 services to be extended to Liverpool using Northern Powerhouse Rail
infrastructure around Liverpool.
The Green Party calls for both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail to be reclassified
as England-only projects rather than England-and-Wales projects. This more
accurately reflects the projects’ geographical location and will importantly ensure that
Wales receives its fair share of funding under the Barnett Formula. Given that it is
not possible to travel by rail between the north and south of Wales (without going on
an hours-long route through England), this transformational uplift in rail investment is
crucial to the nation’s efforts to connect communities; strengthen cultural ties; resist
calls for road-building; reduce car dependency; and tackle the climate and ecological
emergencies
Greens Against HS2 
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