HS2 leg to Leeds will go ahead, says Shapps

The HS2 high speed rail network's eastern leg, linking Birmingham to Leeds, will go ahead and could even be delivered earlier than planned, the transport secretary has said.

But further work was needed on how to integrate it with plans for northern powerhouse rail, said Grant Shapps.

The HS2 network is due to be built in stages, with the final leg to Leeds completed by 2040.

But critics say its £106bn price tag cannot be justified.

In December, the National Infrastructure Commission said that the government should focus on improving rail links between cities in the North and Midlands over new projects such as HS2.

As a result, transport groups in the North and Midlands had feared the eastern leg of the project could be scrapped.

However, speaking at an online event run by the Policy Exchange think tank this week Mr Shapps said HS2 would be built in full and might be delivered earlier than previously planned.

"We are going to complete HS2 and include HS2 on the eastern leg to Leeds," he said.

"The only question that we have is how to better integrate that with plans which have developed a very long way since HS2 was first dreamt up all those decades ago. That particularly pertains to the northern powerhouse rail."

Mr Shapps suggested the eastern leg to Leeds originally scheduled for completion between 2035 and 2040 could be brought forward "quite dramatically" by building it "in a smarter way".

He said the government would provide further information on that "soon".

Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a lobby group, said the government was doing the right thing.

"It's critical to ensuring levelling up is a reality not just rhetoric," said Mr Murison, referring to election promises to boost the economy in the north of England.

Maria Machancoses, chief executive of Midlands Connect, a government-funded regional transport body, said: "While these verbal commitments are encouraging, we need definitive action, namely the publication of the government's Integrated Rail Plan, to give businesses and investors the confidence they need to make decisions.

"The quicker we know government's intentions, the faster we can act, and the sooner we can deliver the benefits local communities," she added.