Government refuses to confirm that rail project will reach Euston following reports terminus may be delayed or scrapped amid rising construction prices
Henry Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse partnership which supports HS2, said about the reports:
It’s very disappointing and I don’t think it should reflect the government’s settled view.
We’ve already had in the Boris Johnson era on bad advice from a small number of advisers close to him unfortunately the lopping off of places like Leeds where I’m stood right now.
I believe Manchester will still get its line but I’m interested in what’s right for the whole of the UK. Even for the north of England, not going to Euston has a number of significant disadvantages. Because people in the north of England, people in Birmingham, will want to get access to central London, that’s what they currently have through the normal mainland network… You do need these stations to be centrally located.
The intellectual argument, and the economic argument is that we need to raise UK productivity, it’s terribly low and that’s why I don’t believe this is ever going to happen. Jeremy Hunt is a huge supporter of HS2 and there are other ways to save the money.
They are to a large extent true because the budget for the whole project is now over £160bn and you get inflation pressures.
But what they are not spending the money on is getting improved rail services east to west, between Liverpool and Manchester, Leeds and other places, and across from Birmingham to Derby.
We should aim for the regions, the north and Midlands, to have a commuter service that’s as good as in the south east.
