Prime minister鈥檚 鈥榤ind made up鈥� on Euston and northern phase
The future of HS2 is in doubt whatever the result of the next election after Labour followed the government in refusing the commit to its full delivery.
Speaking on the BBC鈥檚 Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, shadow cabinet minister Pat McFadden said the party would need to see the scheme鈥檚 revised costs before making a final decision on whether to build it.
Plans to complete HS2 鈥渋n full鈥� had previously been included in a manifesto blueprint developed by the party鈥檚 National Policy Forum but it remains to be seen whether it will be Labour policy heading into next year鈥檚 election.
鈥淲e want to see the railway being built, it looks as though the government is now putting a question mark over this, there may be revised costs to that,鈥� said McFadden.
The prime minister and chancellor Jeremy Hunt are understood to have met last week to discuss options for the high-speed rail project, with the stretch of line between Manchester and Birmingham reportedly on the chopping block.
Over the weekend, The Times newspaper quoted a 鈥渟enior government source鈥� who claimed Sunak had 鈥渕ade up his mind鈥� to scrap both the northern section and the connection into central London at Euston.
This would mean HS2 services would terminate in west London and passengers would have to take the Elizabeth Line to get into the centre of the capital.
These two parts of the scheme have already been subject to re-phasing earlier this year, with the start of work on the northern element pushed back and work on the Euston site mothballed unti April 2025.
Mark Reynolds, chief executive of Mace, which was working on Euston in joint venture, has previously described the government鈥檚 approach to Euston as 鈥渁bsolutely shameful鈥�, accusing it of 鈥渟neakily鈥� announcing cuts just weeks after reassuring construction firms it would go ahead.
鈥淵ou cannot leave Euston as it is to scar central London,鈥� Reynolds said. 鈥淚t has to go into central London as a railway. The system doesn鈥檛 work without it going into Euston.鈥�
Arcadis鈥� boss Alan Brookes told 好色先生TV in June that the decision to ice the Euston job was 鈥渂affling鈥�.
鈥淚 would not start something like that, go as far as you鈥檝e gone and say 鈥榳e鈥檒l leave it at Old Oak Common鈥�,鈥� he said.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to have real access into London. With these big projects, once you鈥檝e made a decision you have to stick with it. We do seem to have this stop-start attitude in this country.鈥�
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Hunt confirmed he was looking at how to bring costs down.
鈥淲ith any big infrastructure project, let alone the biggest infrastructure project in the country, you would expect us to have conversations about managing cost overruns,鈥� he said, adding that would not 鈥渂e drawn on the details鈥�.
The HS2 scheme was budgeted at 拢33bn a decade ago but has ballooned to between 拢70bn and 拢100bn 鈥� though that figure is at 2019 prices meaning the final bill is likely to be higher still.
鈥淚 want to see what happens in the coming months, we want to see the railway being built but we鈥檝e also 鈥� like everything else 鈥� got to look at the cost of everything we do,鈥� said Labour鈥檚 McFadden.
鈥淚 want to see what this costs and we鈥檒l make those decisions when it comes to the manifesto.鈥�
No comments yet