Minister’s ‘gut feeling’ Boris will give green light to troubled HS2
Boris Johnson will give the green light to the controversial Hs2 rail project, a Cabinet minister predicted yesterday.
The Prime Minister is planning a ministerial summit to decide the fate of the troubled scheme, which is now expected to cost more than £100billion.
But Brexit secretary steve Barclay yesterday said he expected Mr Johnson to honour his commitment to voters in the North by going ahead with the project.
He said his ‘gut feeling’ was that Hs2 would go ahead, despite rising concerns within Government about its soaring cost.
He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr show: ‘We have a strong commitment to levelling up all parts of the United Kingdom. Highspeed 2 is a key part of that – not just from speed but more from a capacity point of view. And that is a very clear commitment we have given the North.’
one Government source last night played down Mr Barclay’s comments, saying a decision was still ‘50/50’. But another said Mr Johnson has all but ruled out calls to scrap the northern part of the scheme, which is due to run from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. ‘The idea that a Prime Minister who has been elected on a mandate to boost infrastructure in the North is going to just scrap the northern part of a big infrastructure project is a nonstarter,’ they said. sources involved in the scheme yesterday warned that scrapping it could cost billions. Around £9billion has been spent before a yard of track has been laid. reports claim this could rise by a further £3billion if contracts are cancelled.
The fate of Hs2 has also split the Cabinet and wider Tory party. West Midlands mayor Andy street warned that scrapping it would be ‘incredibly damaging to the region’. But a group of more than 30 Tory MPs are urging Mr Johnson to use the cash to improve eastwest links across the Pennines instead.
A leak of a Government- commissioned review has warned that the project’s bill could reach £106billion – roughly three times the original cost. Phase one between London and Birmingham was due to open in 2026, but full services are now forecast to start between 2031 and 2036.
‘Clear commitment to the North’