This may include adverts from us and 3 rd parties based on our understanding. Sources have indicated that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will abandon all or part of the eastern leg of HS 2 between Birmingham and Leeds after the Integrated Rail Plan is published. It comes amid growing concerns about HS 2 s cost and impact on people s homes and businesses with no rail yet laid.
A senior government source said that the eastern leg is still in the air A DfT spokesman told the Sunday Express: The Integrated Rail Plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects including HS 2 phase 2 b and other transformational projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail will work together to deliver the reliable services that passengers across North and Midlands need and deserve. North West Leicestershire Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, whose constituency was impacted by the eastern leg of HS 2, said cancellation would be welcomed. He said: This project's costs are out of control and it has been a blight on homeowners and businesses in my constituency since it was announced. What I fear is that it might be cancelled instead of mothballed, which would mean the blight on my constituency would continue indefinitely. According to sources from the Northern Transport Partnership, there are also concerns that a promised budget of 50 billion for Northern Powerhouse rail from Manchester linking the east coast to the west will be severely trimmed and end up with a cheap option of an upgrade of the Transpennine Line to Leeds. A DfT source said: We are committed to enable East Midlands, Yorkshire and North East to reap the benefits of high-speed rail services. The Integrated Rail Plan will consider how to sequence the delivery of Phase 2 b to ensure benefits are realised to a more efficient timescale and to ensure it is integrated with plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail NPR and other rail investment projects. The Government remains absolutely committed to the NPR program. Once the Integrated Rail Plan is finished, we will work closely with Transport for the North to finalise plans that are both compatible with the Integrated Rail Plan and which enable us to deliver benefits to communities in the North of England as soon as possible. This would be a major setback in Boris Johnson's promise to deliver setting up for the north of England. The DfT strongly denied not true and false claims from a whistleblower that the real cost of HS2 is currently at least 160.6 billion and could be as high as 200 billion. Our latest six-monthly report to Parliament confirms the total estimated cost range for HS 2 is 93 bn to 98 bn 2019 prices Phase One is on budget with a target cost of 40.3 bn, within an estimated cost range of 35 - 45 bn 2019 prices