HS2 eastern leg
CANCELLING the eastern leg of HS2 (Phase 2b) to Leeds and Sheffield would be short-sighted and would undermine the integrity of the project, according to former Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis.
The former SoS raised an amendment to the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Bill calling for Government to pass a Bill for construction of the eastern leg within six months.
In a House of Lords debate, Adonis said: “If she [Transport Minister Baroness Vere] cannot give that commitment, then the House would be reasonable in concluding that the reason she will not is because the Government is contemplating cancelling the eastern leg of HS2 outright.
“This will undermine the integrity of the project. It will not be levelling up. By definition, it will level down for the East Midlands, Yorkshire and the North East and we should carry this amendment today.”
Adonis also accused Chancellor Rishi Sunak of seeking to cancel the line towards Leeds: “We now have a problem with the Treasury. The Chancellor is wrestling with a difficult situation in the public finances - we all understand why - and he wants the option to cancel the eastern leg.
“This is what this big argument is about. It is the reason the Government will not proceed and give a firm commitment at the moment. That option is being exercised through the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP).
“It would be short-sighted and a catastrophe for this country if the Government were to exercise that option, because it would mean we had 21st century infrastructure serving the western parts of this country and 19th century infrastructure serving the eastern parts.”
Baroness Vere told Adonis there was no need for his amendment. She said: “The Prime Minister has been very clear that the Government’s plans for the eastern leg will be set out in the IRP, and that this will be laid before Parliament within the timeframe referred to in the amendment. I make that commitment to the House today.”
She reminded the Lords that the IRP will be informed by the yet-to-be-published National Infrastructure Commission’s rail needs assessment, and that the IRP will consider how HS2 Phase 2b is designed and delivered alongside other major rail investment in the North and Midlands.
“The Secretary of State for Transport and the Prime Minister have both made it clear that they support the Oakervee review’s recommendation of a Y-shaped network. Given the very purpose of the IRP, and the analysis being undertaken by the independent National Infrastructure
Commission, it is important that the outcome of the IRP is not prejudged,” she said.
Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrats) accused the Government of lots of “warm words”. He said: “I remember, I think I was a local councillor in Sheffield at the time, being told that we were going to have electrification of the Midland Main Line. That was stolen from us. So, the Minister can stand at that Dispatch Box and give us all the warm words in the world - the fact
is, people in Sheffield and Leeds will not believe the promises.”
Former Transport Secretary Lord McLoughlin added: “I regret the words ‘high-speed rail’. It is not about high speed, but about high capacity.
“One of the things that this railway does is release a lot of the capacity on other railway lines to fulfil some of the more desirable things that areas want. The line was always planned to be a Y-shape. The most expensive part of the railway was actually building it from London to Birmingham and then its costs fall away a little, although I fully accept that it is still a very expensive project.”
Adonis’ amends lost by 274 votes to 265.