Chris Grayling said he has 鈥渘o plans to back away鈥� from HS2
New transport secretary Chris Grayling has quashed fears HS2 could be axed.
Grayling is a keen backer of the project, having previously spoken up for the project in former government roles and voted in favour of the scheme at various stages of the HS2 bill.
There had been fears it could have been scrapped under the new Theresa May government, in the context of a recent National Audit Office report finding the cost of HS2 has ballooned well over its 拢55.7bn budget while the company behind it, HS2 Ltd, is only 60% confident of delivering the first phase on time
But speaking at the weekend, Grayling reaffirmed the government鈥檚 commitment to the project, in a move which should reassure contractors and consultants working or bidding for work on the scheme.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4鈥檚 The World This Weekend, the transport secretary said he has 鈥渘o plans to back away from the HS2 project鈥�, which he said was more about adding capacity to the 鈥渞eally congested鈥� rail network than simply about speed.
Grayling said: 鈥淭he thing that鈥檚 important for people to understand is that HS2 is not simply a speed project, it鈥檚 a capacity project.
鈥淲e have lines at the moment which have seen huge increases in the number of passengers, the amount of freight in recent years.鈥�
He added: 鈥淥f course it makes sense if we鈥檙e going to build a new railway line for it to be a fast railway line, to increase travel times or reduce travel times from north to south 鈥� that鈥檚 logical.
鈥淏ut actually we need a better transport system for the 21st century and HS2 is part of increasing the capacity of our transport system.鈥�
No comments yet