HS2: Decision to axe North high speed rail 'so wrong', Andy Burnham says

Northern leaders have hit out at the decision to axe HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester, claiming the government is treating people in the region as "second class citizens".

Rishi Sunak has confirmed the rail link that was due to connect the two cities will not go ahead.

Instead, Mr Sunak pledged to reinvest around £36 billion of savings into other northern rail and road schemes.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said there was "frustration and anger".

He said: "It always seems that people here where I live and where I kind of represent can be treated as second class citizens when it comes to transport.

"It just proves there's still so many people in politics, many of them in the Tory party, that think they can treat the north of England differently to the way they treat other parts of the country it's just so wrong."

He later added: "I don't see how you can take a plan that goes beyond the life of any individual government and basically tear it up at a party conference, surely this should be done on a cross-party consultative basis."

Henri Murison, the chief executive of Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the decision was a "national tragedy - economically at least".

"That's because in 100 years the economy of the north will be smaller because of this decision," he said.

Mr Sunak said HS2 was "the ultimate example of the old consensus" and that the economic case for the line was no longer justified. "The facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change is have the courage to change direction", he said.

In place of HS2 the prime minister said a new "Network North" would be prioritised.

He told the conference hall, to huge applause, that the network would allow commuters 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.

Labour's shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh responded to the announcement by saying: "The Conservatives promised Northern Powerhouse Rail sixty times and in three consecutive Conservative manifestos.

"After this Tory fiasco, why should anyone believe the Tories can deliver anything they say?"

Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Railway Industry Association, said workers were "extremely disappointed" by the decision - which he described as an unnecessary "nuclear option".

He said: "It's defeatist and sends a terrible signal to potential overseas investors that the UK simply cannot deliver large national transport infrastructure schemes."

Mr Caplan said the government could have worked with mayors, the railway industry, rail suppliers and other stakeholders to "agree a cost-effective way forward."

He added: "This blows a hole in the government's levelling-up and decarbonisation agendas.

"None of the replacement regional schemes referred to will have the same impact of building HS2 in full."

Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership said the move would "deprive the region's economy of £2bn billion per year".

A spokesman said: "HS2 would have had a transformational impact across Cheshire and Warrington, creating 27,000 new jobs, delivering 6 million square feet of new commercial floor space and 25,000 new homes."

The group said they would be "looking carefully at the prime minister's promise to recycle the £36bn that he says will be saved from HS2".

Tory MP Andy Carter, who represents Warrington South, said on the doorsteps he "consistently heard" that HS2 was not a priority for people.

"It's east-west links that really do make the difference for people in Warrington", he said.

"There's a commitment for £12 billion worth of spending to improve east-west links, I'm really pleased with that."

But Zoë Billingham, director of the IPPR North think tank, remained unconvinced saying: "New promises heard today to redeploy HS2 funding - across the whole country - not only undermines levelling up but also lacks credibility."

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