As reported by the Financial Times, an leaked review of HS2 high speed rail link from London to Manchester and Leeds has cast doubt on the viability of the route beyond Birmingham.
Costs of the route are now expected to soar to £106 billion, with completion at least seven years behind schedule.
The leaked review suggested work on the Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds sections of HS2 should be paused, following an investigation into whether the region could be better served by improvements to conventional lines. With costs set to spiral further – a cost of £88 billion was estimated in November – the review also brings into question the economic case for the line.
The review recommends reducing the frequency of scheduled trains on the line (from 18, to 14 per hour in line with other high speed rail services internationally), and increasing the private sector contributions to running stations, which would also have reduced specifications.
The leaked review also proposed that an alternative to HS2 be examined for the North, using a mix of conventional and high-speed rail on existing lines. Further investment in local transportation would also be needed in the North of England to deliver the estimated economic benefits of HS2, according to the leaked reports, and a single infrastructure project would not rebalance any regional divisions in the economy.
HS2 is the largest infrastructure project currently in Europe. The scheme has already cost £8 billion and while costs continue to climb well above the original 2015 budget of £56 million, the report warns that a lack of alternative projects mean work should continue to go ahead.
Speaking on the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme regarding the leaked review, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was adamant that the city-region should not get a second-rate solution, and that HS2 was necessary to support Northern Powerhouse Rail, connecting cities in the North from East to West. He said:
“To me that would be the same old story. London to Birmingham, money is no object, and then all the penny pinching is done in the North of England.
“The point about HS2 is it lays the enabling infrastructure for the east-west links that we crucially need and most people here would say that those are even more important.”