PM to defend scaling back of two major rail projects

BORIS JOHNSON will today attempt to defend his decision to scale back two major rail projects by insisting that faster trains in the North will be delivered more quickly.

Speaking ahead of the publication of the long-awaited Integrated Rail Plan today, the Prime Minister insisted that the £96billion investment would “massively” benefit people across the North East and North West.

He is likely to face a backlash from Tory Red Wall MPS over the decision to abandon plans for the eastern leg of HS2 to extend from the Midlands to Leeds. The Department for Transport (DFT) is expected to argue that HS2 will still serve Leeds, but putting them on mainline tracks north of the East Midlands rather than on high-speed lines will save tens of billions of pounds.

Two shorter high-speed routes are now expected to be announced, one of which will run south from Leeds to Sheffield, while the other will run from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway.

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, is also set to abandon a high-speed line between Manchester and Leeds, a key plank of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project. The revised plans are set to involve a mixture of some new line and existing infrastructure upgrades.

Northern leaders have warned Mr Johnson that both projects must be completed in full to deliver on his central manifesto pledge to level up the North and other regions left behind.

Last night, Mr Johnson publicly confirmed the Leeds leg of HS2 would be scrapped, but added in a piece for The Yorkshire Post: “We’ll look at how to get HS2 to Leeds, too, with a new study on the best way to make it happen.”

The DFT said the 20-year programme would deliver “faster train journeys up to 10 years sooner” than the original HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail plans, although a true comparison of journey times will only be possible after the plans are published.

Up to £360million will also be allocated to rolling out contactless ticketing across commuter rail networks. Mr Johnson said: “If we are to see levelling up in action, we must rapidly transform the services that matter to people most.

“That’s why the Integrated Rail Plan will be the biggest transport investment programme in a century, delivering meaningful transport connections for more passengers across the country, more quickly – with high-speed journeys and better local services, it will ensure no town or city is left behind.”

Mr Shapps said: “The Integrated Rail Plan is designed to deliver for everyone, much sooner than under previous plans for rail schemes drawn up a decade ago, which no longer fit the way we travel.”

Mick Whelan, of train drivers’ union Aslef, accused the Government of using “smoke and mirror” tactics. He said: “HS2 was meant to be a world-beater, and put Britain, which gave the railway to the world, back on the industrial and economic map. Instead, the Tories are letting us down.”