Shapps signals backtrack over HS2 outlay

HS2 faces a major rethink as Grant Shapps says government will not “blindly follow” plans drawn up almost two decades ago.

Construction work on phase one of the high-speed rail project from London to Birmingham is under way.

Phase 2a is planned to run from Birmingham to Crewe, and phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester, and from Birmingham to Leeds.

But amid fears that the final bill could top £106billion, and with the pandemic dampening demand for train travel, questions have been raised over whether the final leg still represents value for money. Mr Shapps told the

Financial Times: “We want to make sure we get trains to Leeds in a way that actually benefits people on the network and not blindly follow some plan invented 15 to 20 years ago.”

The creation of the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme, which is aimed at connecting cities in the region on an east-west route, should also be taken into account, he added.

He said: “Midlands Rail Hub and Northern Powerhouse Rail are things... they’ve been invented, they hadn’t been when HS2 was first designed. We need to work on these things together. Are we doing things in the best way and in the right order?”

Speaking to the Conservative party conference, Mr Shapps defended the project, saying the country must take a “long-term view”.

Downing Street would not be drawn on when a plan for railways in the North and Midlands – which is expected to set out the future of HS2 and other schemes – would be released.

On Monday, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It wouldn’t be right for me to comment ahead of the plan being published.

“I don’t have a specific timetable for you, it will be published shortly.”

But Andy Burnham, Labour’s Mayor of Greater Manchester, made an impassioned plea for HS2 to go ahead as originally planned.

He said: “That investment will build a more productive North.”