HS2 Manchester leg cut as Government claims costs are uncontrollable

The government is scrapping plans for a new high-speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester.

After much criticism of the government’s mooted proposal last week, HS2 trains will still run to Manchester but on existing railway infrastructure between there and Birmingham. It comes after earlier reports that the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, intended to scrap HS2’s Manchester leg in its entirety

Initially, HS2 was planned to run between London and Birmingham, with legs to Leeds via Nottingham and Manchester via Crewe.

In 2021, HS2’s eastern leg to Leeds was scrapped by then-PM Boris Johnson, and earlier this year the government announced HS2 would only run to Old Oak Common in west London, 6 miles upline from its original terminus at London Euston.

Sunak confirmed during his keynote speech at the Conservative Party conference that HS2 will run to Euston in another reversal for a project which has faced much uncertainty since the pandemic.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, warned that the Government risks treating people in northern cities as “second-class citizens”, criticising the move which will see his city-region lose out on a quicker, more direct link to the Capital.

Burnham did suggest, however, that he and Manchester City Council would be open to funding for the Northern Powerhouse rail development first, including an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly, if the Government were determined to scrap HS2 to Manchester in the short term.

The rumours came days before the Conservative Party conference began in Manchester, where Rishi Sunak announced the plan in detail, with reports suggesting the Prime Minister is axing the rail project to fund massive tax cuts before the next election to woo so-called ‘Red-Wall’ voters who voted for Boris Johnson in 2019.

The Prime Minister faced opposition even from his own cabinet over the plan to scrap the northern leg, with Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said to be pushing for the project to be built in its entirety.

Last week, The Mancunion spoke to students at Manchester who use the railways between London and Manchester, who generally expressed negative opinions about the scrapping of the line.

Second year student Frances believes the scrapping of the HS2 line from London to Manchester would be an “awful idea”, bemoaning the lengthy journey times on the current line between the two cities, as well as the “busy and disorganised chaos” at London Euston.

Similarly, third year student Tom said that “it’s another kick in the teeth for the north” and that the region “desperately needs new rail infrastructure.”