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The British government on Thursday refused to commit to building the northern section of the high-speed Line 2 rail line between Birmingham and Manchester, sparking fresh concerns about the project.
Speculation over the future of the scheme follows a meeting this week between Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to identify the possibility of further cost savings. The program has been cut several times as costs have continued to rise.
An officer involved was pictured carrying a document relating to the meeting, which included a “savings sheet” showing the cost of various parts of the scheme in north Birmingham – first reported by The Independent story.
Abolition of the section between Birmingham and Manchester would save almost £30bn. Construction has not yet begun, but the government has spent more than £2 billion on design work and purchasing land.
HS2’s cost has more than doubled from its original £33bn budget a decade ago, when the line was originally envisaged running from London to Birmingham before splitting into two parts heading to Manchester and Leeds.
In recent years it has been seen as emblematic of the Conservative government’s flagship policy upgrade aimed at addressing regional economic imbalances. But at the same time, ministers have made cuts to control costs, including scrapping much of the eastern route between Birmingham and Leeds.
Despite the cuts, the projected cost of the entire project has soared from £37.5 billion in 2013 to more than £70 billion in 2019. This year, the government is expected to update cost calculations to reflect higher inflation, which is expected to increase prices by tens of billions of pounds.
The government says it remains committed to HS2. “You would expect Number 10 and the Treasury to discuss large infrastructure projects on a regular basis. The HS2 program has started and we remain focused on delivering this,” a spokesman said.
But when the Financial Times contacted Downing Street, the Treasury and the Department for Transport, they refused to commit to building the line between Birmingham and Manchester.
One of the project’s key drivers, former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, described any move by the government to abandon HS2’s northern leg as a “tragedy”.
Osborne, who chairs the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a group of civic and business leaders, said on his Politics Money podcast: “You can’t build these railways overnight. That’s one thing we’ve learned, Right? It’s all well and good to take away this leg and build another leg, you take away this leg and that’s 13 years of work preparation planning by Parliament, endless studies.”
NPP chief executive Henri Murison added that scaling back the project to such an extent would “severely damage” the government’s relationship with businesses and investors, “who make long-term investment decisions based on previous commitments.” “.
Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh accused the government of mismanaging the project at a huge cost to taxpayers. “They must urgently clarify the future of their flagship upgrade project and ensure it actually reaches the north of England,” she said.
Andy Burnham, the Labor mayor of Greater Manchester, said the government was treating the north as a “second-class citizen”, retaining its “Victorian infrastructure” while investing in modern rail links in the south.
As part of other recent cost-cutting moves, ministers earlier this year announced plans to halt work on the last 7 kilometers of the line into central London and the redevelopment of Euston station in the capital, which was supposed to be the terminus. They have also announced delays on the Birmingham to Crewe section, but doubts remain.
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