'Levelling up promises being broken' as doubts grow over HS2 reaching Yorkshire

Work on the eastern leg route of HS2 from Birmingham to Leeds has been on hold since February 2020, when the Government launched the Integrated Rail Plan to assess how to deliver schemes like HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail more effectively.

The plan was originally due to be published by the end of 2020 but is yet to be delivered, with no date for publication. It will not be published until September at the earliest with Parliament currently in summer recess.

A Conservative source told the Daily Mail that while the eastern leg of the route - intended to connect Leeds and Sheffield to HS2 - is unlikely to be formally cancelled due to fears of a political backlash, it may be left to “wither on the vine”.

It comes after HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston told MPs last month that at the moment the company is only working on Phase 2b plans for Manchester after being asked by the Department for Transport to focus its attention there rather than on the eastern leg.

He said: “That is where our focus is at the moment. The company is not doing any work on anything else at the moment.”

Mr Thurston said Royal Assent for the Crewe to Manchester element of the plan is being sought for "somewhere around 2024 or 2025" with the eastern leg's future due to "play out in the fullness of time".

At the same hearing of the Transport Committee, West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said he anticipated a “serious delay” to the building of the eastern leg. “I believe the Government will still commit to doing it but will not be specific about the timing of when,” Mr Street said.

Mr Jarvis said today: “The Government once again appears to be reneging on its promises to level up the North by massively watering down major transport projects. What’s worse is they are doing so by deploying smoke and mirror tactics and imposing further delays.

“Ministers must be straight with communities and businesses in the North. We urgently need to know their plans and they must publish the long-overdue Integrated Rail Plan as a matter of urgency.

“This must include the full delivery of the Government’s stated commitments to Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2. Anything less would be a complete betrayal of the Government’s commitments to the North.”

Henri Murison, director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the current pause offers the opportunity to take a new approach to the construction programme.

He said the Government should take a phased approach to building the eastern leg and revise its plans so work on the Leeds to Sheffield element of the route is done first rather than last. Mr Murison said this would allow for Northern Powerhouse Rail services to operate between Sheffield and Leeds earlier and reduce congestion on existing lines in the North.

“You can’t have an approach to HS2 that continues to leave the North until the end,” he said.

“We want HS2 on the Eastern leg to start from Leeds which means however long it takes to complete in full, the benefits can begin earlier.

"You have to finish Phase One but you could start building from Leeds the sections that are for Northern Powerhouse Rail in short order."

In April, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said while it would have been “highly sensible” to originally start building HS2 in the North, changing the plans now would be “the most expensive possible outcome”.

Construction work on phase one of the high-speed rail project from London to Birmingham is already ongoing.

Phase 2a is planned to run from Birmingham to Crewe, and phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester, as well as from Birmingham to Leeds.

But after the Government-commissioned Oakervee Review warned last year that the final bill for HS2 could reach £106 billion at 2019 prices, there were concerns the route to Leeds could be scrapped to save money.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “The Integrated Rail Plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects, including HS2 phase 2b and other transformational projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, will work together to deliver the reliable train services that passengers across the North and Midlands need and deserve.”

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