Last minute lobbying to keep HS2 falls on deaf ears as industry casts doubt on Sunak’s alternative

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Plan to ditch leg of railway to Manchester condemned as mistake by construction sector

Last minute lobbying by the industry led by West Midlands mayor Andy Street fell on deaf ears today as the prime minister officially pulled the plug on the rest of HS2.

The stretch from London to Brimingham will continue with Rishi Sunak pledging that the route will, after all, go into the middle of the capital and not start and finish at Old Oak Common in west London as had been recently suggested.

But a campaign to keep the stretch from the West Midlands to Manchester has bitten the dust – despite Street putting together a rescue package for the part of the line not yet built.

Backers included Mace, Arup, Siemens and Arcadis who, speaking before Rishi Sunak’s announcement to ditch the rest of the project, said: “If the government chooses to invest in other infrastructure, then the private sector should be given the opportunity to bring forward their own proposals to fund and deliver the Northern leg of HS2.

sunak 2

Source: Conservative Party

Rishi Sunak has turned his back on the rest of HS2, with the prime minister cancelling work on the leg between the West Midlands and Manchester in favour of investing in hundreds of local projects across the country

“This is a win-win. It not only grows the overall amount of infrastructure investment and return on that investment but maintains the global investment community’s confidence in the UK.

“The Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 will bring enormous benefits to the economy of the North-west and to the country as a whole. Its delivery would be a global signal of the UK’s status as a pre-eminent investment destination.”

But the team’s proposals, which included bringing in funding from the private sector and overseas wealth funds, are heading for the scrapheap.

This morning, Street himself was understood to be considering his position, but the mayor has subsequently confirmed he will remain in post and stay in the Conservative Party.

He told his party’s conference in Manchester this morning: “The right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.

“I am ending this long running saga and cancelling the rest of the HS2 project. What we really need is better transport connections in the north. This will be our priority.”

Details were thin on the ground but Sunak said “every single penny” of the £36bn saved will be redirected into “hundreds” of smaller transport projects across the country, including east-west links in the North.

Alasdair Reisner, chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, said he was waiting to see the details of the ‘Network North’ plan, but that he suspected it was political “sleight of hand” to soften the blow of the HS2 cut.

“I don’t know whether it is something on the back of a fag packet or whether there is a bit more behind this,” he said, “[but] everything I have seen so far doesn’t look promising.”

While he accepted that some of the northern projects highlighted by the prime minister might have better “bang for buck” than HS2, he said failure to invest in the north-south spine would hobble capacity for the entire rail network long-term.

“If they don’t do HS2, there is no plan to relieve that [capacity] and you are basically saying we are willing to accept that our rail network is not going to work in the long term for journeys north south,” he said.

How the industry has reacted

“If we hope to build affordable infrastructure that offers value to the UK and stimulates economic and social growth, we need to take a longer-term view on infrastructure investment. With HS2 prized as the UK’s flagship levelling up project, it’s disappointing that the economic and political climate has deterred this ambitious project to improve and rebalance the overall economic health of the country from inception to completion.

“Infrastructure is one of the key pillars of economic longevity and improvement. Whilst it is promising for industry and the country to see the alternative infrastructure investments proposed, proposals must now be accompanied by robust delivery plans to ensure intentions are viable and we are still building towards a better future, rather than taking a step back.” Paul Hamer, chief executive, Sir Robert McAlpine

“Major Capital Projects like HS2 have an incredible economic multiplier effect which enables skills growth and world-leading innovation in technology and construction techniques. When such projects are cut, there is a ripple effect on jobs and growth through many sectors.

“Companies in the construction sector who are reliant on it will suffer as a result. The ability to bring in early career staff, be they graduates or apprentices, gets curtailed and that then has knock-on effects that can roll forward for decades.” Philippa Spence, UK managing director Ramboll

“It is positive news for the country and the industry that the Prime Minister has committed once again to build the new station at Euston. His proposed Euston business and development zone may work, but the detail will be critical. It is important that we push on ahead with delivering the station at speed, providing clarity to industry on the pipeline of work and avoiding further disruption to the local community.

“Conversely, the decision to not build new high-speed rail north of Birmingham to Manchester will seriously undermine business and investor confidence in the UK and our ability to deliver on our promises - as well as having a chilling effect on the UK’s construction industry.

“The use of the expected £36bn saving to create Network North instead is a bold statement, and we look forward to seeing the detail of the hundreds of planned new rail and road projects.” Mark Reynolds, group chairman and chief executive, Mace

“The cancelling of the northern leg of HS2 is naturally disappointing. It’s undeniable that this will be seen by many as a missed opportunity for the region, and the country as a whole. Only last week, northern business and political leaders came together at our TfN Board to speak with ‘one voice’ to reaffirm our position that HS2 and NPR in full are vital to truly transform the North.

“The announcement of investment in the region is obviously welcome. And we will look to work with government to fully understand the implications for the North of the proposals set out today in the Prime Minister’s speech, and consult with our Board on the best way forward in light of this new change of policy. There are still quite a few areas that require further clarification from the Department for Transport, which we will be seeking from them.” Lord McLoughlin, chair of Transport for the North

“Companies that have already landed contracts for Phase 2 will need to scrutinise their agreements to see where they stand from a legal perspective. In particular what does the termination clause say about terminating the contract where the Government shelves the project? It may well have been drafted to limit or exclude the contractor from having a right of recourse, which would make it difficult for affected businesses to dispute the termination of their HS2 contracts.” Tim Seal, head of construction at law firm Ridgemont

“Given projects down on the ground in rail and roads are already being delayed, postponed, pushed back and cancelled, it is most likely that most of the local and regional projects the prime minister announced are either already existing projects in the pipeline or new projects only likely to occur in the 2030s once the detail finally comes out.” Noble Francis, economics director, CPA

“With HS2 prized as the UK’s flagship levelling up project, it’s disappointing that the economic and political climate has deterred this ambitious project to improve and rebalance the overall economic health of the country from inception to completion. Infrastructure is one of the key pillars of economic longevity and improvement. Whilst it is promising for industry and the country to see the alternative infrastructure investments proposed, proposals must now be accompanied by robust delivery plans to ensure intentions are viable and we are still building towards a better future, rather than taking a step back.” Paul Hamer, chief executive, Sir Robert McAlpine

“The lesson from today’s announcement on HS2 is the UK must change how it approaches planning and delivering infrastructure. The stop/start approach the country takes to major infrastructure benefits no one. We need long-term plans, supported by evidence, long-term thinking on financing options, and robust and consistent policy to achieve desired outcomes.

“The prime minister outlined several projects and schemes in his speech. Many of these projects aren’t new, and many have been previously caught in this stop/start cycle of decision-making, which drives up costs. This is likely to happen again.

“The National Infrastructure Commission will publish its second National Infrastructure Assessment in a few weeks. Before politicians rush off to make the same mistakes again on infrastructure, they should pause, look at the Commission’s advice and use this as a long-term plan to prioritise investment and rebuild credibility.” ICE director of policy, Chris Richards

“The UK has incredible strengths as a destination for investment. When global boardrooms weigh up investment opportunities, the UK was always seen as a safe harbour due to our reputation for reliability. But the decision to cancel the rest of the HS2 project sends a damaging signal about the UK’s status as global destination for investment.” CBI chief executive, Rain Newton-Smith

“The government has played fast and loose with HS2 and scrapping the Manchester leg is a betrayal of the North. Transport is the backbone of rebalancing our regions. New promises heard today to redeploy HS2 funding – across the whole country – not only undermines levelling up but also lacks credibility. Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 are in the long-term interest of the country. This is a double blow for the North.” Zoë Billingham, director of IPPR North

The government’s planned transport investments in full

North West

Improving connectivity in all six Northern city areas: Nearly £4 billion to improve connectivity, which could pay for schemes such as the extension of the Manchester Metrolink to Heywood, Bolton, Wigan and Manchester Airport and bus rapid transit corridors in Manchester.
New fund to transform rural travel: A brand new £2.5 billion fund to transform local transport for smaller cities, and towns. This new money could pay for new stations, further electrification, bus corridors and new integrated public transport networks.
Energy Coast Line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow upgraded: Improving capacity and journey times, enabling trains every 30 minutes between Carlisle, Workington, and Whitehaven
Contactless & smart ticketing: £100 million will be shared across the North and Midlands to support seamless travel by enabling contactless or smartcard payment.
Fixing potholes: £3.3 billion long-term road resurfacing fund for North alone will fix potholes causing misery for drivers and more than £500 million in funding will be provided for two major road schemes around Manchester. These include a new link road between the M62 and the M60, Manchester’s ring road and the busiest freight route outside the M25. The scheme will help tackle congestion and reduce delays.
£300 million for 9 smaller road schemes: Including the A582 South Ribble Distributor, Kendal Northern Access Route, and the Wigan East-West Route.
£2 bus fare will also be extended: Will run to the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned. This will mean passengers on a bus journey from Lancaster to Kendal will save £12.50 every time they travel.
£700 million bus funding package in the North: More buses and more frequent routes, including a new service to Royal Blackburn Hospital, doubling the service between Northwich and Chester and more buses to industrial estates and business parks.
£1.5bn for Greater Manchester: Comes from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 budget - an unprecedented investment in local transport networks.
Nearly £1bn for Liverpool City Region: Comes from City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) 2 budget, plus a further £600 million on top – funded from HS2. That is more than double their allocation under the last round.

North East

75 per cent more funding for improved connectivity: Benefiting millions of people living in the towns and suburbs around Newcastle and Teesside, funding new roads in the Tees Valley.
Dualling A1: Funding to dual a section of the A1 between Morpeth and Ellingham.
£460 million for smaller road schemes: Including the Blyth Relief Road.
Reopening stations: Communities in the North East will be reconnected, including a new station at Ferryhill, Co Durham. The Leamside line, closed in 1964, will also be reopened.
Funding for contactless and smart ticketing: Supporting seamless travel by enabling contactless or smartcard payment.
Fixing potholes: Funding to combat potholes causing misery for drivers in the region.
£2 bus fare extended: More buses to industrial estates and business parks.
£1.8 bn for the North East from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 and HS2 funding.
£1 bn for Tees Valley.

Yorkshire & Humber

£2.5 billion West Yorkshire mass-transit system: Better connections to Bradford and Wakefield. Leeds will no longer be the biggest European city without a mass-transit system, with up to seven lines potentially created as part of a transformed network, eventually linking Leeds to Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, and Wakefield.
Hull brought into Northern Powerhouse Rail network: Reducing journey time to Leeds from 58 minutes to just 48. The number of trains between Hull and Sheffield. Journeys from Hull to Manchester will drop from 107 to 84 minutes, enabling two fast trains to Leeds.
Sheffield-Leeds line electrified and upgraded: Giving passengers a choice of three to four fast trains an hour with journey times cut from 40 to 30 minutes. A new mainline station for Rotherham will also be added to the route, boosting capacity by 300 per cent.
Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Sheffield electrified and upgraded: Cutting journey times from 51 to 42 minutes, and increasing the number of fast trains on the route from two to three per hour, doubling capacity.
Reopening train lines: Communities will be reconnected, including through the restoration of the Don Valley Line between Stocksbridge and Sheffield Victoria, and new stations at Haxby Station, near York, Waverley, near Rotherham, and the Don Valley Line from Sheffield to Stocksbridge.
Contactless and smart ticketing: £100 million will be shared across the North and Midlands to support the development and roll-out of London-style contactless and smart ticketing.
Nearly £4 billion to better connect all six Northern city areas: This could pay for schemes such as bus rapid transit corridors in Bradford and Leeds.
£2.5 billion fund to transform local transport in 14 rural counties: This new money could finance projects like more electric buses in Harrogate and better bus-rail interchange in Scarborough.
£460 million for smaller road schemes across the North: Like the Shipley Eastern Bypass, near Bradford, while a £1 billion roads package in the North could fund schemes like the A1-A19 Hickleton Bypass in Doncaster, easing pressure on traffic.
£3.3 billion long-term road resurfacing fund for North alone will combat the potholes causing misery for drivers.
£2 bus fare extended until the end of December 2024: More buses and more frequent routes, with more buses to industrial estates and business parks.
£1.4 bn for South Yorkshire from savings from HS2 and the City Regional Sustainable Settlement.
£1.3 bn for West Yorkshire. This includes a £500m downpayment for the West Yorkshire Mass Transit.

West Midlands

Reopening closed Beeching lines: including the Stoke to Leek line and the Oswestry to Gobowen line, with a new stop at Park Hall. A new station will be built at Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, on the existing Crewe to Derby line,
Contactless and smart ticketing: £100 million will be shared across the North to support seamless travel by enabling contactless or smartcard payment.
£2.2 billion fund to transform local transport: Rural counties such as Shropshire, smaller cities like Leicester and towns such as Evesham will receive funding which could pay for smaller, more demand-driven buses in rural areas as well as funding the refurbishment of Kidsgrove and Longport stations, near Stoke-on-Trent.
£250 million for smaller road schemes: Including the Shrewsbury North Western Relief Road and the A4123 Birchley Island, near Oldbury. A Midlands Road Fund worth nearly £650 million will be launched for new roads.
£230 million for more bus services: Increased frequency of bus services in the Midlands, which could be spent on new bus stops around Telford and park and ride upgrades elsewhere in Shropshire and new bus lanes in Herefordshire.
£2.2 billion for the Midlands to combat potholes: Fixing roads causing misery for drivers.
£2 bus fare extended: Until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.
£1 billion more for local transport funding in West Midlands:  This includes £100 million to deal with ongoing metro and Arden Cross cost pressures, £250 million to accelerate local transport projects over the next five years.

East Midlands

Increased rail capacity: The number of trains between Leicester and Birmingham will be doubled from two to four per hour.
£1.5 billion for East Midlands City Region Mayor: Transforming transport for 2.2 million people living in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. This is an average of almost £1000 for everyone in the two counties. The new Combined Authority could use the funding to extend the Nottingham Tram system to serve Gedling and Clifton South and connect Derby to East Midlands Parkway with a Bus Rapid Transit System.
Reopening Beeching Line stations: Including the Ivanhoe Line between Leicester and Burton, connecting 250,000 people across South Derbyshire and North West Leicestershire, with new stations en route.
Funding for the Barrow Hill Line: Between Chesterfield and Sheffield Victoria, with a new station at Staveley in Derbyshire.
Contactless and smart ticketing: £100 million will be shared across the North and Midlands to support contactless or smartcard payment.
Fixing two major pinch points on the A5: Funding a stretch of road between Hinckley and Tamworth, linking the M1 and M6, that serves more than one million people. Funding will also be provided for improvements to the A50/500 corridor between Stoke and Derby, cutting congestion for the 90,000 drivers who use the road each day and ensuring smoother journeys for drivers and freight around Rolls Royce, Toyota, Magna Park, and other major local employers.
Midlands Road Fund worth nearly £650 million: Launched for new roads.
£2.2 billion fund to transform local transport: Available in every part of the Midlands outside the mayoral combined authority areas and the new East Midlands combined authority - rural counties such as Shropshire, smaller cities like Leicester and towns such as Evesham.
£250m will fully fund ten smaller road schemes in the Midlands: Including the A509 Isham Bypass, near Kettering, and the A43 between Northampton and Kettering.
£2.2 billion for potholes: Funding for the Midlands to combat the potholes causing misery for drivers.
£230 million for more bus services: Increasing frequency throughout the Midlands and the popular £2 bus fare will also be extended until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.
The East Midlands will get a brand new the City Regional Sustainable Transport settlement of over £1.5 billion as it embarks its new status as a Combined Authority next year.

East Anglia

Ely Junction to be transformed: providing an extra six freight trains per day with access to the Port of Felixstowe, removing thousands of HGVs from East Anglia’s roads.
Remodelling of the Ely North and Haughley Junctions.
Doubling train passenger services: on the Ely to King’s Lynn and Ipswich to Peterborough routes.
£610 million to fund road schemes: ensuring the delivery of 39 road schemes across East Anglia, including the A10 between Ely and Cambridge.
Access to a £2.8 billion roads resurfacing fund: combatting potholes.
£2 bus fare extended: until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.

South East

Funding to ensure the delivery of road schemes: This includes the A2 at Brenley Corner, a notorious bottleneck on the corridor to Dover.
£290 million to deliver 14 road schemes: Roads across the South East set to be revitalised, among them the A259 between Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.
Access to £2.8 billion to combat potholes: Fixing potholes causing misery for drivers in the South East, South West and East of England
£1 billion fund will be launched for new road schemes
£2 bus fare extended: Until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.

South West

Funding for vital Exeter to Plymouth rail line: making it more resilient in the face of extreme weather.
Opening more railway lines: between Cullompton and Wellington.
A new station built at Tavistock: connecting it with Plymouth. Plus, five miles of track will be reinstated.
£100 million in funding for a Mass Transit system: to revolutionise travel in and around Bristol.
£140 million in funding to ensure the delivery of 12 road schemes: among them the A38 in North Somerset.
A further £1 billion fund for new road schemes: around the South West, South East and East of England.
Access to £2.8 billion roads resurfacing fund to combat the potholes.
£2 bus fare extended: Until the end of December 2024 instead of rising to £2.50 as planned.
£0.8bn from the City Regional Sustainable Transport Settlement 2 budget and savings from HS2.

Wales

£1 billion to improve transport connectivity in Wales: North Wales to benefit from a £1 billion investment to electrify the North Wales Main Line, bringing parts of the region within an hour of Manchester and strengthening connections across the Union.
Faster journey times, increased capacity, and more frequent, reliable services: Network North will build better connectivity across the North and Midlands.

Scotland

Reducing congestion for the communities of Ashington, Felton, Alnwick, and Amble: by delivering the long-awaited upgrade to A1 coastal route between Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and Edinburgh.
Faster journey times, increased capacity, and more frequent, reliable services: Network North will build better connectivity across the North and Midlands.
Pinch points on the A75 solved: providing better links between the Cairnryan ferry terminals serving Northern Ireland and southwest Scotland.
Further investment in the M6 and Cumbria, and the A77 towards Glasgow.