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The government is reportedly planning to reverse its decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2, extending the high-speed rail line from London Euston to Crewe.
Having originally planned for the project to cost £37.5bn in 2009, the government’s latest estimation in Febuary this year ballooned to anywhere between £72bn and £98bn.
Private talks involving Labour leader Keir Starmer at last month’s Labour party conference have sparked speculation that an official announcement could come in the new year, LBC first reported.
This follows former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s prior cancellation of the phase 2a section to curb costs.
However, pressure to revise the project has grown amid concerns over long-term infrastructure investment.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, criticised the potential reversal, saying the decision “would only further derail the public finances, all for the sake of a massive white elephant that taxpayers simply can’t afford.”
O’Connell added that HS2′s financial case “has long since been torn to shreds by uncontrollable costs, changes to rail usage, and the much greater need for investment in alternative projects”.
He urged Labour to reconsider, suggesting that scrapping HS2 completely would help address the budget deficit.
Yet, the government had been warned by John Dickie, chief executive of BusinessLDN, that there will ‘never be a cheaper time’ to build the costly tunnel.
The HS2 project has been a point of controversy due to its soaring costs and shifting priorities in the UK’s transport needs, exacerbated by changing work and travel patterns post-pandemic.
Transport secretary Lousie Haigh had promised that £8.3bn of scrapped HS2 funding would be targeted to fixing a million potholes annually during her pre-election campaign.
The reversal of phase 2a would further increase the financial burden on taxpayers at a time when public spending is under scrutiny.
A spokesperson from the secretary of state for transport’s team, said: “We have always said we won’t be taking plans for HS2 phase 2 back off the shelf after the Conservatives took a wrecking ball to the project and allowed costs to spiral completely out of control”.
They insisted that there is no planned announcement on the HS2 line from Birmingham to Crewe, pointing to the King’s speech as a clear indication that they would not reverse the decision on phase 2 of HS2.