'Doing nothing is not an option!' Andy Burnham says Black Country and Staffordshire key to HS2 alternative
The Mayors of the West Midlands and Manchester have pinpointed Staffordshire as key to the replacement of HS2.
Andy Street and Andy Burnham held a joint press conference in Birmingham to outline the progress they have made attracting private investment for an alternative to HS2.
Three options are on the table - improving the West Coast Mainline, building bypasses to the current railway or building a new line.
Andy Street confirmed bypass routes in Staffordshire have already been chosen.
He said: "We have got on the map where the bypasses are needed. It is no secret it is where there are constraints on the line, which is Stafford where the West Coast Mainline goes down to two lines.
"And at the southern end where the original HS2 route continued after Handsacre."
