AS much as £100 million of investment could be drawn away from Bristol under the Government’s high speed rail project, new figures have revealed.
A report published previously said cities close to the HS2 link, running from London to the North through Birmingham, were set for billions of pounds of new investment.
But new data, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, shows part of the money will be sapped from regions not connected to the HS2 line, including Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
The total amount of investment drawn away from the Bristol area could top £155 million.
The figures come from financial services company KPMG which produced a document as part of the HS2 consultation estimating gains and losses from the project across the country.
However, the Government omitted the losses when it published the report in September until the full set of date was revealed by the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Friday.
The omitted data helps create a complete break-down of projected gains and losses for every local authority areas in the UK for the year 2037.
Under the Government’s plans, the London to Birmingham leg of HS2 will be built first with 225mph trains running in 2026. Only then would construction start on the so-called “Y” section linking the Midlands to Manchester and Leeds, which is expected to be complete by 2033.
It is claimed the losses will be felt as firms move away from the city or choose to set up in a city connected to the HS2 line.
The new figures estimate Bristol will lose between £42.99 million and £101.27 million (between 0.2-0.5 percent of its GDP).
Bath and North East Somerset could lose between £3.34 million and £20.2 million (0.1-0.4 per cent of GDP), While North Somerset could lose between £11.87 million and £23.89 million (0.2-0.4 per cent of GDP).
A spokesman at the Department for Transport said: “These figures show it boosts the North overall more than the South.
“Of course the line does not serve every city and region and these figures reflect that.”
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Article source: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/High-speed-train-drain-cash-Bristol/story-19963788-detail/story.html