MPs back £32bn high speed Birmingham-London rail line

A controversial £32 billion high speed rail line is the only way to solve capacity problems on Britain's railways, MPs said today.

A report by the Parliamentary Inquiry concluded that only High Speed Two (HS2) can create the long-term capacity that Britain's rail network needs.

The line would provide 225mph trains between London and Birmingham by 2026 and two new stations in Birmingham.

Councils in Staffordshire have objected amid concerns the new line will tear up the countryside near to Lichfield and that economic benefits will be confined to Birmingham and London.

The MPs, from all three of the main political parties, HS2, such as upgrades to the existing network, will not solve capacity problems.

The findings form the conclusions of a four-month inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for High Speed Rail and adds weight to the argument for the controversial line.

The report concludes that the rail network is close to being full and that passenger figures are already where they were expected to be in a decade.

Alternatives including a revamp of the existing West Coast Main Line were found to be unable to meet demand.

Graham Stringer, co-chairman of the committee, said: "The findings completely blow the arguments of the opponents of HS2 out of the water."

He added: "All of the available evidence makes clear that the very running of our railways is under threat as we fast approach total saturation."

However critics today said the report was a "sham". Joe Rukin from the Stop HS2 Campaign, said: "It was a foregone conclusion, it is shamelessly selfish and ignores the facts."

Work is expected to start in 2016.