British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday declined to commit to completing a northern section of Britain’s HS2 high-speed railway, as the government ponders whether to delay or scrap the scheme later this year due to ballooning costs.
HS2, or High Speed 2, is a planned high-speed railway project – billed as Europe’s largest infrastructure project.
It was originally expected to link London with cities in England to its north including Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, though the government has already ditched the connection to Leeds.
Asked whether the leg to Manchester would also be scrapped, Sunak said that the first stretch from London to Birmingham was already being built but the government had to consider the cost effectiveness of projects.
“I know there’s a lot of speculation on this but we’ve already got spades in the ground on the first bit of HS2 and what we’re doing is getting on with delivering it,” Sunak told local BBC radio in Manchester.
Asked about phase 2, which would extend to Manchester, he said: “it’s always right that the government is looking at things to make sure that we are doing things in a way that it creates value for money.”
“But what I would say is HS2 is just one of the many things we are doing to level up across our country and it’s one of the many things we’re doing to invest in the north and in transport infrastructure in the north,” Sunak added.
Sunak was speaking before the Conservative Party conference which takes place in Manchester next week.
An announcement on the future of HS2 is now not expected until later in the year.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Michael Holden)
