Birmingham
Home to over one million residents, Birmingham is a dynamic, vibrant and innovative city with the youngest age structure of any major European city, and ambitious plans for the future. As the main economic driver of the West Midlands’ economy, the city provides employment for over half a million people and produces more than £18billion of economic output per annum. In recent decades Birmingham has transformed itself to become a cosmopolitan place to live and work and an internationally renowned business and conference destination – a success that has in turn led to increased visitor numbers and a tremendous growth in city centre living.
Birmingham keenly supports proposals for a HSR, which would help to drive the future development of the local economy, vastly improve connectivity with other major centres of commerce in Europe and within the UK, and position the city firmly on the world map.
HSR would form a valuable, complementary element of Birmingham’s Big City Plan – the ambitious and far-reaching masterplan set to deliver tens of billions of pounds’ worth of physical, economic and cultural development within the city centre over the next 20 years – and provide further traction to the multibillion-pound Eastside development, effectively expanding the eastern edge of the city centre.
By cutting journey times between Birmingham and London to less than an hour, HSR would attract additional development investment to Birmingham, so stimulating further regeneration. Birmingham has long been considered the gateway to the West Midlands region; HSR links would enhance this status and deliver significant, wider economic benefits for the region as a whole.
“Birmingham keenly supports proposals for a HSR, which would help to drive the future development of the local economy, vastly improve connectivity with other major centres of commerce in Europe and within the UK, and position the city firmly on the world map.”
Cllr Neville Summerfield