Chief executive Steve Mogford is scheduled to appear before the House of Commons environment select committee on 7 March and is expected to float the idea as the kind of bold project that could be undertaken to tackle water shortages in the south.
The thinking is that while previous tentative plans for a water transfer network were swiftly shot down as not feasible on the basis of cost and environmental disruption, if HS2 goes ahead it would be relatively simple to piggy-back a water pipe on the bigger rail scheme.
United Utilities has done some outline costings based on 6ft 6in diameter non-standard steel pipe. It estimates that it would cost £1.1bn to run the pipe from London to Birmingham, £875m from Birmingham to Leeds and £656m from Birmingham to Manchester.
The northwest-based water supplier has not disclosed how much it might charge southerners for its water.
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