Manchester-Birmingham HS2 leg scrapped with money diverted elsewhere

The prime minister has announced that the HS2 Phase 2 new line between Birmingham and Manchester will be scrapped with the money to be redirected to other transport projects.

The new plans will instead focus on improving travel between and within towns and cities and around local areas.

At the centre of the plan is Network North, which aims to drive better connectivity across the North and Midlands with faster journey times, increased capacity and more frequent, reliable services across rail, buses and road.

£36 billion is set to be invested in hundreds of transport projects around the country.

According to the government, at the moment, more than four million people in cities in the North cannot currently reach their city centre by public transport within half an hour. Rail accounts for just 8 per cent of distances travelled and 2 per cent of all journeys.

HS2 will still run between Euston in central London and the West Midlands as planned, with a station at Old Oak Common and Birmingham Interchange and branches to central Birmingham and Handsacre, near Lichfield – where HS2 trains for Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland will join the West Coast Main Line.

£19.8 billion will be reinvested in the North, including: £2 billion for a new station at Bradford and a new connection to Manchester; £2.5 billion to deliver a new mass transit system in West Yorkshire;  £3 billion for upgraded and electrified lines between Manchester and Sheffield, Sheffield and Leeds, Sheffield and Hull, and Hull-Leeds; and nearly £4 billion more funding for local transport in the North’s six city regions.

£9.6 billion will be reinvested in the Midlands, including: funding the Midlands Rail Hub in full with £1.75 billion, connecting 50 stations and over 7 million people – doubling capacity and frequency; over £1.5 billion guaranteed local transport funding for the new East Midlands Mayor; over £1 billion extra local transport funding for West Midlands City Region; and a new £2.2 billion fund for local transport across all areas in the West and East Midlands outside the city regions – smaller cities, counties, towns and countryside.

£6.5 billion will also be spent around the rest of the country, including: rail improvements in the Southwest; keeping the £2 bus fare until the end of December 2024;  ensuring the delivery of road schemes; transforming Ely Junction; and billions to fix potholes on the country’s roads;  and greater connectivity for both Scotland and Wales with improvements to the A75 between Gretna and Stranraer, and £1 billion to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line.   
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Prime minister Rishi Sunak said: "If we want to change the country – and build a better future for our children – these changes to our transport system are absolutely essential.

"For too long we’ve been getting our transport wrong, meaning our great towns, cities and rural areas are not achieving their potential. That has to change.

"Our new vision will focus on the forms of transport that matter most to people, drive the best growth and, importantly, that truly levels up our country."

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