The wider spatial-economic impacts of high-speed trains: a comparative case study of Manchester and Lille sub-regions

Abstract: This paper aims to analyse the wider spatial-economic impacts of high-speed trains (HSTs) within post-industrial regions. A core question underlies the analysis: can HST effects spread from the core city to surrounding sub-regions, or could they widen the gap between core and peripheral places? A comparative case study of two regions – Manchester and its sub-regions in North West England (UK) and Lille and its sub-regions in Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France) – with similar industrial trajectories and opportunities allied to two different HST approaches was conducted to offer crucial insights. The findings showed that for both regions, the arrival of HSTs did assist the development towards the knowledge economy, but the specific aspects vary. Also, the differential effects existed: the connection with the national capital by faster train services did economically strengthen the regional capital, but not some sub-regions around it, especially former industrial sub-regions. The comparison between the two regions shows that the transformation of post-industrial regions and sub-regions towards the knowledge economy brought by HSTs proves a complex and difficult process. Both post-industrial regions are still in the course of transition. In Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the wider economic transformation is just beginning to happen, while the laboriously-upgraded West Coast Main Line seems to demonstrate limits to its transformative power. This process involves much more than being connected with highspeed trains, significant as this may be. A full investigation of causality deserves another paper, but the findings suggested three critical factors: the economic trajectory and its infrastructure needs, a HST hub strategy and the simultaneous improvement of the intra-regional transport network, and path dependency. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]