HS2: Backlash against scrapping Manchester rail link grows

Scrapping the HS2 link from Birmingham and Manchester risks "ripping the heart" out of plans to improve rail services across northern England, the mayor of Greater Manchester has said.

In a growing backlash, Andy Burnham said axeing the extension risked creating a "north-south chasm".

Speculation has grown as the government has not guaranteed the line will run from the Midlands to the North West.

Rishi Sunak refused to comment but said the UK was "committed to levelling up".

"Transport infrastructure is a key part of that, but not just big rail projects, but also local projects, improving local bus services, fixing pot holes, all of these things make a difference in people's day-to-day lives," the prime minister said.

The BBC understands a decision on HS2 could be made as soon as this week.

The high speed rail project is intended to link London, the Midlands and the north of England.

The first part, between west London and Birmingham, is already being constructed.

But the scheme as a whole has already faced delays, cost increases and cuts - including the planned eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds which was axed in late 2021.

In March, the government announced that building the line between Birmingham and Crewe, and then onto Manchester, would be delayed for at least two years.

On Sunday, Grant Shapps, the current Defence Secretary and former Transport Secretary, said it would be "crazy" not to review plans for HS2 given that costs have risen.

He also would not comment on whether or not separate plans for the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) scheme between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool would still go ahead if the northern section of HS2 is scrapped.

The NPR project would include a mix of new and upgraded lines to speed up links. It plans to use a section of the HS2 line from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly, as well as the planned upgrades to Manchester Piccadilly station.

Mr Burnham, and the leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, have written to the prime minister to warn that cancelling HS2 to Manchester would effectively be cancelling NPR as well.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Burnham said scrapping the HS2 extension to Manchester "rips the heart" out of NPR and would "leave the north of England with Victorian infrastructure, probably for the rest of this century".

He said it was "a recipe for the north-south divide to become a north-south chasm".

In the letter to the prime minister, Mr Burnham said that if changes were needed, "we could be open to a discussion about prioritising the Northern section of the line, between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, so that it enables NPR to be built first".

Juergen Maier, vice chair of Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said HS2 and NPR "are part of one network, sharing the most valuable stretch of the route between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly".

A former chairman of HS2, Allan Cook, told the BBC that scrapping the Manchester leg would be a "huge mistake" and "very, very short-sighted".

He rejected the idea that the money could be better spent on rail projects in the north of England. "We need both. Why in the north have do we have to make a compromise?"

The annual Conservative Party conference begins in Manchester on Sunday, and Conservative MP Steve Brine said it would be "very odd" to cancel the project whilst in the city.

The possible scrapping of the HS2 link has also come under fire from former Conservative chancellor, George Osborne, who in a joint article in the Times with Lord Heseltine, said it would be a "gross act of vandalism".

They warned scrapping the route would be "an act of huge economic self-harm" and leave the North and Midlands "abandoned".

Lord Heseltine told the BBC said it would also hit the UK's image.

"The reputational damage to a country or a government that commits itself and encourages others to invest and commit themselves to a project which was claimed to be transformational and then to stop - the reputational damage is incalculable," he said.

The last official estimate on HS2 costs, excluding the cancelled eastern section, added up to about £71bn.

But this was in 2019 prices so it does not account for the rise in costs for materials and wages since then.

In June, a statement to Parliament said £22.5bn had been spent on the London to Birmingham leg so far while £2.3bn had been spent on preparing other sections, on measures such as buying up land.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said last week that costs were getting "totally out of control".

Labour has so far refused to confirm it would fund the HS2 line to Manchester if the Conservatives axe it.

On Sunday, Darren Jones, new shadow chief secretary for the Treasury, said the Labour Party would "love to build the HS2", but said little "proper" information had been made available by the government.

Also at the weekend, more than 80 companies and business leaders also sought clarity over the commitment to HS2.

The bosses of dozens of businesses and business groups - including Manchester Airports Group, British Land, Virgin Money, and the Northern Powerhouse - all signed a letter to the government urging renewed commitment to HS2, saying that repeated mixed signals were damaging the UK's reputation and the wider supply chain.

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