The Northern leg of HS2 has been scrapped because of spiralling expenses weeks after The Independent revealed the prime minister and chancellor were in talks about shelving it.
The Manchester leg of the High-Speed Rail project has been pushed back by at least seven years, The Independent understands.
The revelation comes after The Independent first revealed top-level talks were taking place between Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt about whether to scrap parts of the high-speed rail project HS2 on 13 September.
The much-delayed and overbudget plan was for a line connecting some of the biggest cities in England, intended to connect London, the Midlands and the north of England, with construction split into three stages.
Downing Street was evasive when asked for comment - but refused to deny discussions were taking place. Our story could be news to the project managers, as well as the Department for Transport, he said.
The rest of the press crew caught up to the news crew on the next day. The prime minister's spokeswoman was subjected to relentless in-person questioning at a regular briefing of political journalists in Westminster.
But No 10 would not deny the talks had taken place. Other papers began to pick up the story.
Pressure started to grow: Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, 58, was first out of the gate, blasting the government. It set the tenor of the rest of the reaction.
George Osborne was the next Tory big beast to weigh in. He went on to the airwaves to warn that the prime minister was making a mistake.
He was accompanied by former Tory Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and David Cameron, as well as the government's own infrastructure tsar.
The mayors, including London's Sadiq Khan, also participated in the discussion, urging the PM to keep the project on track. Businesses groups have warned it would be a betrayal to abandoned work now, with some signing a joint letter.
Hunt, who is due to return to court on Thursday, resumed his silence more than a week after the original story. The chancellor said the HS2 costs were'spiralling out of control' - his strongest hint yet that a cut was being considered.
The Independent later revealed that a decision on the line was due before the Tory conference this coming week.
The prime minister said he was considering a delay, rather than a cut to the project, spooked by the reaction to this newspaper's revelations.
On the first day of the conference, Mr Hunt gave the clearest signal that he was ready to axe HS2's northern leg, as he attacked some of the high-speed rail project's 'totally unacceptable' costs.
hours later, and minutes before Mr Sunak gave his speech, sources close to the government discussions told The Independent Mr Sunak had made the decision to delay the project by several years. The prime minister has said he will announce it at the conference, either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
The source said there could be some'reallocation' of HS2 money to the east-west railway projects known as Northern Powerhouse Rail in a bid to keep angry Tory MPs and business chiefs onside.