It has been reported that the government has finally cancel plans for the HS2 rail link to Leeds.
This comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously committed to building the connection from the West Midlands to the northern powerhouse of Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds. Government ministers were said to be poised, instead, to fund disparate projects that favour Tory constituencies.
Two shorter high-speed routes – one running between Leeds and Sheffield and another from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway – are said to be more favoured options as Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was expected to announce the outcome of the long-delayed integrated rail plan. Leeds could be set to receive its own tram system for not being connected to HS2.
Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership thinktank, said: “Without the benefits to areas such as Yorkshire and the north-east, HS2’s status as a project to drive the whole of the UK is undermined considerably. Will this be a government that levels up, or levels down and walks away from the northern powerhouse they promised with city leaders across the north?
“The government’s priority should be to build HS2 south from Leeds as well as securing a new station in Bradford on the critical new line across the Pennines.” A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Work is continuing on the integrated rail plan. We will publish it shortly and do not comment on speculation.”
