Direct trains to heart of Europe

Oldhamers would be able to travel from their doorsteps to the heart of Europe under Tory plans for high speed rail.

As Transport Secretary Lord Adonis announced the findings of independent experts into the feasibility of running super-fast trains from London and Heathrow to Manchester via Birmingham yesterday, the Chronicle can reveal that the Conservatives want to revive plans to run direct trains from the North-West through the Channel Tunnel if they win the next election.

Trains were built at a cost of £180m to run regional Eurostar services and cabin crew were hired and began training in Manchester — only to lose their jobs when the proposals were scrapped and trains used elsewhere when it was decided that the idea would lose money.

For several years afterwards, a maintenance depot at Longsight proclaimed in giant letters on its wall: “Le Eurostar habite ici”.

Travellers from Oldham now have to ride on a London train to Euston and carry their luggage a mile to St Pancras to catch a Eurostar train for Paris or Brussels.

But Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers, speaking to business leaders at the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce insisted that a new £20bn high speed line — which the Tories want to start building by 2015 — should carry passengers to Europe.

“International connections are crucial,” she said. “I think it is vital that we build in the possibility to go straight from Manchester to Paris and Brussels.

“It would be incredibly short-sighted if everyone who wanted to go on to the international network had to get off the train in London.”

Ms Villiers said that her party had not decided on exactly the way the high speed line should go but said that its “cautious” estimates were that it would cost the taxpayer £15.7bn with £4.3bn coming from the private sector.

But she added: “When in doubt, we have gone for the top estimate. We are actually hoping that we could do it for considerably less.”