ANNOUNCED by Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party Conference on October 4 following weeks of intense speculation, the Government’s decision to entirely cancel Phase 2 of HS2 between Lichfield and Manchester was met with widespread condemnation from regional leaders and rail industry organisations.
Citing delays, rising costs and post-pandemic travel patterns, the prime minister claimed that the“facts around HS2”had changed.
The Euston to Birmingham section (Phase 1) of the high-speed route, currently under construction, will be completed, but HS2 trains going beyond Birmingham will rejoin theWest Coast Main Line at Handsacre in Staffordshire (north-west of Lichfield), a decision which Mr Sunak said would allow the Government to “reinvest”£36 billion in transport projects nationwide.
The revised plans for HS2 (which also include reducing its Euston terminus to six platforms) emerged just a week after a Transport for the North (TfN) board meeting at which political and business leaders reaffirmed that the HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail projects were critical to the North’s economic future.
Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said the North and Midlands had been“left to pay the price”of a“staggering Tory fiasco”, while Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham (Labour) said it seemed people in the region were“treated as second-class citizens when it comes to transport”.