There is no doubt it is great news that if and when Network Rail finds the £34 billion for its new high-speed rail link, Preston will be on the mainline.
It would be churlish not to welcome such a major investment and improvement on our doorstep and I certainly do welcome it.
But, like many commentators after last week’s announcement, I do have concerns about it especially if it comes at the expense of better connectivity between cities across the North – Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle, etc.
In this country we seem to have this rather unhealthy obsession with the South East and more specifically London, in as much as this rail link and so many other similar projects, seem to be able enabling ‘us’ to travel quicker to ‘them.’
Now anyone who knows me will know I am North West through and through, so perhaps I do speak with a degree of bias on this point, but I believe we need to reverse that psychology.
This high-speed rail link should be seen as much about increasing traffic from London to the North, ‘them’ coming to ‘us’, if you will.
Potentially we have a great opportunity to offer equal quality service provision in so many sectors, often at a more competitive price; it is certainly a lot cheaper to set up in business on Preston docks than it is on the side of the River Thames.
And, if this new rail link comes off, people from London will be able to get to Preston in an hour and 13 minutes which is probably quicker than they can get to their own offices in London today, so it is not so fanciful to believe Londoners could commute to work in Preston in the future.
The one other point I was pleased to read about in the Lancashire Evening Post last week is that the rail link would bring about a new train station for the city, close to our wonderful motorway connections.
Preston railway station is perfectly located at the heart of the city centre and obviously architecturally very good looking, but it is in need of a real facelift.
If we are going to attract greater numbers of potential investors and customers from London, these facilities and the immediate city centre around the station needs a real investment to make it a proper gateway.
But that’s one for the future.