Building HS2 to Euston and Crewe could pay for itself, analysis finds

Building HS2 all the way to London Euston and Crewe could save the government money by enabling it to lease the line out for much more, rail industry leaders have told ministers, as the Treasury weighs up whether to fund tunnels to central London.The High Speed Rail Group proposes selling the rights to run the line as a long-term concession – on a similar basis to the HS1 rail route linking the capital to the Channel tunnel.Such a concession would be worth about £20bn if fully developed from central London and joining lines to northern cities, but just a fraction of that under current plans to terminate at Old Oak Common and Birmingham, according to an analysis for HSRG.The coalition of rail and engineering companies, whose members include Hitachi, Alstom, Siemens and Avanti West Coast, argues that spending billions more now to reach Euston and Crewe would still save the Treasury £3.5bn in the long run.The claims come as the government decides whether to reinstate tunnelling…