Greengauge 21 - High Speed Rail

Bircham Dyson Bell has been working closely with Greengauge 21 on the development of its high speed rail strategy for Britain.

Greengauge 21 is the not-for-profit organisation established to research and develop the concept of a high speed rail network in Britain and to promote its implementation as a national economic priority.

Bircham Dyson Bell's public affairs team was appointed to advise on a national and regional consultation on Greengauge 21's emerging development programme and the legal Major Projects team was appointed to advise on the options for statutory authorisation available to deliver the envisaged network. The latter included advice on issues around the new regime for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects introduced by the Planning Act 2008.  Please click here to order the Practical Guide to National Infrastructure Projects.

Bircham Dyson Bell also provided integrated legal and public affairs advice on issues around the development of policy in this area, most notably around the forthcoming National Networks National Policy Statement which will set out government priorities for the strategic road, rail and rail freight networks.

The team prepared and managed a comprehensive consultation programme with stakeholders across Britain gaining views on the priorities for, and objectives of, the development of a potential high speed network. Consultees included a range of public and private sector bodies with an interest in the issue and consultation involved a range of qualitative and quantitative methods. The findings of this project were then fed into the main work programme of Greengauge 21's Principal Consultants. The team also worked closely with Greengauge 21's funding advisers.

Greengauge 21's final report, which can be downloaded from here, showed for the first time what a high speed rail network would look like, what its value would be and what it might cost. It powerfully argues that a network would help meet economic and climate change challenges, transforming the travelling experience in Britain, offering large-scale time savings and as well as high-quality, reliable services. In addition, a high speed rail network will free up space on the conventional rail network, allow commuter capacity to expand and also allow further growth of rail freight.

The political and popular profile of high speed rail as a concept increased significantly over the course of the work programme, with all of the three main political parties in Westminster committing themselves to development of some form of network. In addition to this emerging political consensus, government established the 'High Speed Two' company to take forward consideration of the preferred route and business case for the first stage of the network.

Jim Steer, Founder and Director, Greengauge 21 said:

Bircham Dyson Bell's integration of legal, consultation and public affairs advice, combined with a detailed commercial understanding of the rail industry, has been instrumental to the success of the Greengauge 21 project. It was an ambitious and challenging work programme and Bircham Dyson Bell worked closely with us and our wider consultancy team to produce a high quality, comprehensive report which has really advanced the high speed rail agenda.