Savings to be spent on 鈥榟undreds鈥� of smaller projects, while Euston link to go ahead under new management
Rishi Sunak has announced the government鈥檚 flagship high speed rail project will not be built to Manchester.
After weeks of speculation, the prime minister used his party conference speech in the northern city to confirm his decision to axe the second phase of the scheme.
He outlined his plan to reinvest 鈥渆very single penny鈥� of the 拢36bn saved into 鈥渉undreds鈥� of smaller transport projects across the country, including east-west links in the North.
鈥漌ith our new 鈥橬etwork North鈥�, you will be able to get from Manchester to the new station in Bradford in 30 minutes, Sheffield in 42 minutes, and to Hull in 84 minutes on a fully electrified line,鈥� he said.
The prime minister also said he would 鈥減rotect鈥� the 拢12bn to link Manchester and Liverpool, help West Midlands mayor Andy Street extend the West Midlands metro, build a tram in Leeds and electrify the North Wales mainline, as well as invest in a variety of road schemes.
Sunak set his cuts to HS2 in the context of a different approach to politics, pitching himself as a politician willing to make difficult decisions and challenge vested interests.
鈥淲here a consensus is false, we will challenge it, where a vested interest is placing itself above the needs of the people, we will stop it,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.鈥�
Sunak described an 鈥渆xhaustion鈥� with politics among the public and decried 鈥渞hetorical ambition that does little more than achieve a short-term headline鈥� and 鈥渧ested interests standing in the way of change鈥�.
He said HS2 was the 鈥渦ltimate example of the old consensus鈥� and that the business case had been 鈥渕assively weakened鈥� by changes to business travel post-Covid.
The high speed railway will still run to a new Euston, however, an element of the scheme that had also been in peril after being mothballed earlier this year.
However, that job will be taken away from HS2 Ltd. Instead, the government will establish a Euston development zone, which Sunak said would see thousands of homes built alongside a new station.
鈥淭here must be some accountability for the mistakes made by the mistakes made, for the mismanagement of this project,鈥� he said.
He claimed 拢6.5bn of savings would be achieved through the new approach and promised to give this to 鈥渢he rest of the country鈥�.
While new high-speed rail will not be built north of Birmingham, HS2 trains will run to Manchester on existing West Coast Mainline track.
More than 拢580m has already been spent buying land north of Birmingham for the scheme, with more than 400 houses purchased on the way from Crewe to Manchester alone.
Questions over HS2鈥檚 future have hung heavy over the conference this week, with regional mayors from both major parties rallying opposition to the planned cut among the business community.
Andy Burnham, Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, made an unadvertised appearance at a reception hosted by rail leaders on Monday, at which he said he was 鈥渙pen鈥� to a conversation about rephasing rail investment plans and pleaded for the land assembly between Birmingham and Manchester to be protected so that HS2 could be delivered at a later date.
On Tuesday, his Conservative counterpart in the West Midlands, Street, revealed he had assembled a group of private firms 鈥� including Mace, Siemens Mobility, Arcadis and Arup 鈥� willing to consult with the government on bringing in private investment to complete the scheme.
By the time the prime minister took to the stage in Manchester, it was clear that both men鈥檚 efforts had been in vain.
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