4th October 2023
Electrified North Wales railway line coming as Rishi Sunak cancels HS2 railway line to Manchester
Today, Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the HS2 phase to Manchester will now not go ahead, and instead has announced a range of other projects.
The HS2 phase between London and Birmingham will still go ahead, but instead of then using high-speed lines to Manchester, trains will then join existing West Coast Main Line to Manchester.
The Prime Minister made the announcement at the Conservative Party Conference today (4th October) in Manchester.
Also, during his announcement, he confirmed that the railway line will run into Euston station, rather than reports recently that it will stop at Old Oak Common
Other upgrades he has stated include:
- Protect the £12bn to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned
- Build the Midlands Rail Hub, connecting 50 stations
- Help Andy Street extend the West Midlands Metro
- Build the Leeds tram, electrify the North Wales main line
- Bring back the Don Valley line
- Upgrade the energy coast line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow
He says that costs of HS2 has almost doubled, and wouldn't arrive into Manchester for nearly two decades.
Rishi Sunak has just confirmed at the conference “I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project” and will reinvest £36bn into other projects.
Additionally, he has said “With our new Network North, you will be able to get from Manchester to the new station in Bradford in 30 minutes. Sheffield in 42 minute, and to Hull in 84 minutes on a fully, electrified line.”
“We'll build 100s of projects people want, starting sooner and finishing faster: – £12bn for Liverpool-Manchester and fully electrified trains to Sheffield, Bradford & Hull – Full Midlands rail hub – Key road upgrades – Modern mass transit systems – Bus services and local rail”
Following the Prime Minister's party conference speech today, Iain Stewart MP, Chair of the Transport Committee, said: “There will be costs and lost opportunities in not proceeding with HS2 in full. There will also be significant benefits delivered by the new rail and road projects that the PM has announced.
“The Transport Select Committee will scrutinise in detail these announcements and, crucially, look at how the Government will assess their deliverability.
“This work will include the impacts that these announcements might have on the wider road and bus networks, and an examination of how they fit into the Government's strategic policy objectives for the country's transport services, which is at the heart of another of our current inquiries.
“An important role of a cross-party select committee is to take the time to dispassionately dig into and appraise the detail of changes of policy, and the strong views that there will be. I shall be discussing with my colleagues on the Committee our programme for doing this.”
Jason Prince, Director of the Urban Transport Group, said: “Many of our member city regions have designed local transport schemes around the promise of larger infrastructure projects, whether HS2 or otherwise. Our members need the confidence that once schemes are announced, they are delivered. The same logic applies to the raft of transport projects unveiled by the Prime Minister today.
“Fundamentally, transport is about more than simply moving people from A to B. It is about creating economic growth and thriving communities for people to live and work in. This can only happen through certainty of long-term investment.”
Responding to the government's decision today to scrap HS2 to the North, Lord McLoughlin, Chair of Transport for the North, said: “The cancelling of the northern leg of HS2 is naturally disappointing. It's undeniable that this will be seen by many as a missed opportunity for the region, and the country as a whole. Only last week, northern business and political leaders came together at our TfN Board to speak with ‘one voice' to reaffirm our position that HS2 and NPR in full are vital to truly transform the North.
“The announcement of investment in the region is obviously welcome. And we will look to work with government to fully understand the implications for the North of the proposals set out today in the Prime Minister's speech, and consult with our Board on the best way forward in light of this recent change of policy. There are still quite a few areas that require further clarification from the Department for Transport, which we will be seeking from them.”
Michelle Craven-Faulkner, partner and rail lead at Shoosmiths, said: “HS2 was never just about getting to London faster. Its aim was increasing connectivity, capacity and creating a high-speed rail spine in the UK – providing the infrastructure for routes to spur off and deliver the east-to-west connectivity raised in today's announcement.
“The decision to scrap the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 will have consequences. Jobs could be lost and businesses impacted. Construction on this part of the network may be less advanced, but there are firms involved and working on the project. That's even before considering the long-term effect this could have on the freight industry or the investment decisions – globally and domestically – that have been made on the basis of the route being delivered.
“HS2 has dominated the political, media and social discourse in recent days. It is, however, critical that all parties understand that this isn't the only hurdle facing the rail industry.
“Those working in the sector and the supply chain have been provided with little clarity over the last few years – navigating almost constant changes in policy, beginning with the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands, the gradual chipping away of HS2 and the proposed shift to Great British Railways – the future of which is hanging in the balance.
“This lack of leadership and consistency has stymied investment into rail and efforts to upgrade the existing network, as demonstrated by procurement delays for Network Rail's Control Period 7, a £44bn five-year plan to improve the railway in England and Wales.
“What is needed now is some transparency as to when and how the proposed projects will be delivered and what is the pipeline. Without that, the UK rail industry is still in the dark.”
In response to the Prime Minister's announcement that the Northern leg of HS2 is cancelled, the Institution of Civil Engineers' Director of Policy, Chris Richards said: “The lesson from today's announcement on HS2 is the UK must change how it approaches planning and delivering infrastructure.
“The stop/start approach the country takes to major infrastructure benefits no one. We need long-term plans, supported by evidence, long-term thinking on financing options, and robust and consistent policy to achieve desired outcomes.
“The Prime Minister outlined several projects and schemes in his speech. Many of these projects aren't new, and many have been previously caught in this stop/start cycle of decision-making, which drives up costs. This is likely to happen again.
“Changing direction and switching projects delays businesses and communities from benefitting from infrastructure investment. These positive outcomes are how we should be measuring success, not just by lowest cost to deliver.
“The National Infrastructure Commission will publish its second National Infrastructure Assessment in a few weeks. Before politicians rush off to make the same mistakes again on infrastructure, they should pause, look at the Commission's advice and use this as a long-term plan to prioritise investment and rebuild credibility.”
Following a speech by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party conference, where he announced the scrapping of HS2 to Manchester, RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “The incompetence of successive Tory governments has now cost the taxpayer billions and led to this disastrous decision for Britain's economy, environment and our ailing transport infrastructure.
“High Speed rail together with a modern expanding public transport network is key to the future of linking every part of our country together, from north to south and East to West.
“Public transport investment is not an either-or question. The fact is we will not be able to tackle the climate emergency without encouraging people to use modern, cheap and efficient high speed rail and hugely expanded local bus services.
“The key to thriving economies of the future is to be environmentally sustainable and to interconnect cities, towns and villages to promote economic activity.
“The Conservative government is playing political games ahead of an election and instead of investing properly in Britain's public transport and high speed future, Rishi Sunak risks putting the country in the slow lane.”
Commenting on the Prime Minister's announcement on HS2, Andy Bagnall, chief executive of Rail Partners said: ‘A decision of this magnitude will have consequences felt for generations by the rail industry, its supply chain, passengers and freight customers.
‘While reinvestment in other regional rail schemes is a significant consolation, the decision to reduce investment in rail and divert funds to road schemes feels counterintuitive as we look to attract people to move away from carbon intensive modes of transport.
‘Passengers in regional cities will now not receive the full benefit of the connectivity that the northern section of HS2 offered for people travelling north and south between Manchester and Birmingham. We will need to see more detail on the impact for passengers travelling east and west between Hull and Liverpool.
‘The cancellation of the northern section means less capacity for rail freight and ultimately more lorries on our roads, with businesses seeking to decarbonise their supply chains limited in their options to move good off the roads and onto rails.
‘In the wake of this decision, it is even more critical that government takes further action to support regrowth of the railway by evolving rail contracts to allow train operators to better deliver for passengers. It must also set an ambitious freight growth target to maintain investor confidence and outline which strategic freight projects will be taken forward to create capacity in the absence of HS2.'
Following the news that HS2 Phase 2 between Birmingham and Manchester is to be scrapped, Darren Caplan, Railway Industry Association Chief Executive responded: “Many of the Railway Industry Association's members will be extremely disappointed by the Government's proposal announced today by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to scrap HS2 between Birminghamand Manchester. This follows the previous scrapping of the Eastern Leg to Leeds, the Golborne Link to enable High Speed trains to get to and from Scotland, and the ‘pausing' of the Old Oak Common to Euston stretch.
“The Government cites cost as its main reason for scrapping Phase 2, yet it should be remembered that this was the Government's own scheme, built to its own specifications, and that the chopping and changing of the scope and timing of the project – adding considerably cost and delay – was entirely of the Government's own making. Every time the scheme is rescoped it increases the cost.
“Scrapping HS2 Phase 2 is simply unnecessary and squanders the full benefits of Phase 1. The Government can work with metro mayors, the railway industry, rail suppliers, and other stakeholders, to agree a cost-effective way forward, including encouraging private investment to take pressure off the public purse.
“Today's nuclear option is defeatist and sends a terrible signal to potential overseas investors that the UK simply cannot deliver large national transport infrastructure schemes. For companies with existing contracts, the implications of the Prime Minister's proposal to release £6.5bn from the Euston site and create a development zone are particularly unclear. Already, multinational railway businesses will be making plans to rationalise their workforces and investments in a way that will be detrimental to the country's rail supply sector specifically and UK plc more widely. This also 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 the HS2 in full.
“Going forward, the Government needs to safeguard the full HS2 route for future generations, and pass the relevant Bill in the King's Speech next month. It needs to work to rebuild trust with the railway industry, for example providing reassurance that the £36bn investment it mentioned in regional transport projects announced today, such as Midlands Rail Hub and the electrification of the North Wales mainline, will go ahead following the short-notice cancellations of HS2's Phase 2, Eastern Leg, Golborne Link, and the Old Oak Common to Euston ‘pausing'. And the Government needs to redouble its efforts to deliver certainty in rail by pushing on with rail reform, publishing the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline for the first time in four years, setting out a plan for rolling stock, including a pipeline for new and refurbished trains, explaining its plans to decarbonise UK rail, including a rolling programme of electrification and fleet orders of hydrogen and battery trains, and give more freedom to bring forward private investment.
“Whilst we in the railway industry are of course concerned at the announcement made by the Prime Minister today, we now need to ensure the HS2 Phase 2 scheme can be taken on by future generations, that there will be rebuilt trust in Government rail announcements given the recent history, and provide more certainty generally, to enable rail businesses to plan their workforces and resources in the weeks and months ahead.”
Commenting on the news that the Prime Minister has cancelled Phase 2 of the HS2 project, Sir John Peace, Chairman of Midlands Connect, said: “We are disappointed and disheartened by the HS2 announcement.
“We must not start from scratch, we must work at pace to deliver HS2 Phase 1 all the way to Euston. There are also lessons to be learnt from the HS2 story so far.
“The Midlands Rail Hub and road programmes including the A5 which have been announced today resonate with us, these are our transformational East-West priorities for the region, which we recommended and have been progressing with Government.
“We are now calling for more detail on timescales and plan of action, and asking for a high-level urgent meeting with ministers, to ensure these plans and the benefits for the Midlands are delivered as quickly as possible.
“We will now work, like we always do, cross-party and in an open and collaborative way with all involved.”
