Now yet another HS2 leg is axed

MINISTERS quietly axed another section of HS2, it emerged yesterday, risking accusations of betraying their ‘levelling up’ policy.

A branch connecting the high-speed rail project to the West Coast Main Line near Wigan has been cut, saving up to £3billion.

Supporters of the section, known as The Golborne Link, say it would have created greater capacity for HS2 trains to run up to Scotland.

Services between London and Scotland could have avoided a congested section of the West Coast Main Line north of Crewe. But opponents said it would have torn up more countryside and

‘Look again at alternatives’

blighted beauty spots. The news was slipped out on Monday night when Westminster and the media was watching the Tory party’s confidence vote in Boris Johnson’s leadership.

Construction on the 13-mile stretch was to start early next decade and end by the early 20 0s. But HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson said the Government will now ‘look again at alternatives which deliver similar benefits’.

It came after the ‘Eastern Leg’ of HS2, connecting Birmingham with Leeds, was also cut, shaving tens of billions off the budget.