Chancellor insists HS2 is on track to run to London

THE Chancellor has sought to dispel reports that HS2 will be heavily cut back, insisting that it will run into central London.

Jeremy Hunt said that he could not see “any conceivable circumstance” in which the high speed line would not end at the planned Euston terminal.

He made the comments after a report in The Sun yesterday suggested the Government and HS2 bosses were looking at pairing down the scope of the line, by delaying or scrapping the Euston plan completely.

The report also suggested that ministers were considering a two- to five-year delay to the entire £72billion project, with fresh fears that the second phase of the line from Birmingham to Manchester and Crewe could be scrapped.

Commenting on the report, Mr Hunt pointed to the fact that he had prioritised the HS2 line as one of his key projects in his Autumn Statement.

This came after growing pressure from Tory backbenchers to scrap the scheme. Esther Mcvey, who has described the scheme as a vanity project, refused to back government tax rises last October unless the Government scrapped it.

The reports of a route rethink were disclosed as the project comes under increased cost pressure, with inflation having a severe effect on the construction works.

Last year, the Financial Times reported on an internal letter from Jon Thompson, HS2’S deputy chairman, in which he said it was “very unlikely” that the £40.3billion budget for the first section of the line between London and Birmingham would be met.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph this month, Huw Merriman, the rail minister, acknowledged the inflationary pressures but said there was no “blank cheque” and he expected HS2 to deliver the scheme within budget.

HS2 is planned to go from Euston station in central London, and a further terminal at a new station in Old Oak Common, in outer west London.