Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has set out the urgent need for a new high speed, high capacity railway line to give Britain the infrastructure it needs.

The Transport Secretary has confirmed that the government is committed to pressing ahead with HS2 to tackle the looming capacity crisis the rail network faces and to help boost jobs and regeneration along the line of the route and across the country. Construction is due to begin on the scheme in the first half of next year.

He has also confirmed plans to make £70 million of government funds available to support local communities and road safety along the route between London and the West Midlands.

The £70 million is made of 3 separate funds:

• the HS2 Community and Environment Fund (CEF)

• the Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF), which together total £40 million

• £30 million road safety fund

The CEF will help enhance community facilities, improve access to the countryside and conserve the natural environment along the HS2 Phase One line of route, while the BLEF will support local economies in areas where businesses may experience disruption from the construction of HS2.

The 2 funds will provide £40 million which is set to be allocated at a regional level:

• £15 million for the Central area (Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Buckinghamshire)

• £7.5 million for Greater London

• £7.5 million for the West Midlands (Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry)

• £10 million unallocated to allow flexibility to fund cross-border or route wide projects

The allocations were made by Cathy Elliott, the independent chair of the CEF and BLEF funds, following recommendations from the House of Commons HS2 hybrid Bill Select Committee.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

“We need HS2 now more than ever.

We’re facing a rapidly approaching crunch-point. In the last 20 years alone, the number of people travelling on our railways has more than doubled and our rail network is the most intensively used of any in Europe.

We need HS2 for the capacity it will bring on the routes between London, the West Midlands, Crewe, Leeds and Manchester as well as the space it’ll create elsewhere on our transport network.

We need it for the boost it will give to our regional and national economies.

And we need it for the jobs it will create, and for the way it will link our country together.”