HS2 Manchester leg scrapped: what should happen now?

[matacaster]

As above.

 

[jonesy3001]

Won't believe anything the mainstream media say until it's announced by the government themselves.

 

[infobleep]

You mean Sky News I take it?

This is City AM quoting ITV News.

According to ITV news’ Robert Peston, Rishi Sunak intends on allocating billions of pounds of the projects’ money to other investments in the north of England.

Final nail in the coffin for HS2 as Manchester leg shelved by Sunak

The Manchester leg of HS2 has been shelved, ITV News understands, meaning the city will no longer get a high speed rail connection to London.

www.cityam.com

Robert Pestom posted, formally know as tweeted, this on X, formally known as Twitter.

I am told the PM has now taken the decision to shelve the Manchester leg of HS2. Confirmation, and detail of the re-allocation of funds to other transport projects in the north, will presumably come very soon.

https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1708813476821364944

Won't believe anything the mainstream media say until it's announced by the government themselves.

There are times when I won't believe anything the government says until it actually happens.

 

[brad465]

They scrap the leg to Manchester while at their conference in Manchester. That's "brass neck act of the year" decided.

 

[1D54]

They scrap the leg to Manchester while at their conference in Manchester. That's "brass neck act of the year" decided.

Let's wait and see what these other transport projects are before judging too harshly. Thinking about it they will probably be out of office before any of them start so Manchester leg might be reinstated by the new incoming government.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Let's wait and see what these other transport projects are before judging too harshly. Thinking about it they will probably be out of office before any of them start so Manchester leg might be reinstated by the new incoming government.

2A wouldn't be too hard to reinstate even if the land was all sold, it's mostly through open farmland.

2B was in doubt anyway, wasn't it?

 

[HSTEd]

Thinking about it they will probably be out of office before any of them start so Manchester leg might be reinstated by the new incoming government.

Previous practice by outgoing governments who cancel things is to put them beyond any hope of recovery before they leave office.

 

[chris11256]

As we're 12 month or so from an election I'm taking this with a pinch of salt. A future government could reinstate parts of the project, especially given how anti rail Sunak is.

 

[HSTEd]

2A wouldn't be too hard to reinstate even if the land was all sold, it's mostly through open farmland.

It would take years because you'd have to go through the Hybrid Bill process again to regain powers to obtain the land.

Selling the land, now that the compulsory purchase powers have been extinguished would essentially kill the scheme permanently.

 

[infobleep]

2A wouldn't be too hard to reinstate even if the land was all sold, it's mostly through open farmland.

2B was in doubt anyway, wasn't it?

Reminds us which bit is 2A. Is that the Manchester past?

 

[snowball]

Guardian says there's to be an emergency cabinet meeting tomorrow to formalise the decision.

Rishi Sunak set to confirm scrapping of Manchester leg of HS2

No 10 does not deny reports PM is planning to announce axing of multibillion-pound project at Tory conference

www.theguardian.com

 

[HSTEd]

Reminds us which bit is 2A. Is that the Manchester past?

Birmingham to Crewe, through open terrain and still managing to cost as much as an alpine base tunnel.

 

[bib]

Good job they published the IRP

 

[brad465]

Let's wait and see what these other transport projects are before judging too harshly. Thinking about it they will probably be out of office before any of them start so Manchester leg might be reinstated by the new incoming government.

I try not to think about the possibility of them adopting a scorched-earth policy, but decisions like this make it hard to avoid thinking it is.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Reminds us which bit is 2A. Is that the Manchester past?

2A is basically 6-tracking the Trent Valley in any meaningful sense.

2B is Crewe to Manchester.

 

[chris11256]

I try not to think about the possibility of them adopting a scorched-earth policy, but decisions like this make it hard to avoid thinking it is.

Wouldn't surprise me at this stage! The government will want to make Labour look as bad as possible in advance of the election. Something along the lines of 'labour will spend billions reinstating HS2 when it could fund X nurses in Y brand new hospitals'. Even though we all know capital funding doesn't quite work like that.

 

[12LDA28C]

They scrap the leg to Manchester while at their conference in Manchester. That's "brass neck act of the year" decided.

Another brilliant decision by this lame duck 'Government'. The quicker they are gone the better. I'd like to hear what Andy Burnham has to say about it...

 

[InTheEastMids]

Selling the land, now that the compulsory purchase powers have been extinguished would essentially kill the scheme permanently.

Certainly it will stop further land purchases.
It may take some time to start mobilising disposal and to actually dispose of the land.
it can take many years to actually dispose of the land - aware other parts of the public sector have "surplus" land that was acquired decades ago. A shred of optimism to cling to, that a change of government might be able to resurrect something from this utter shambles.

 

[matacaster]

Previous practice by outgoing governments who cancel things is to put them beyond any hope of recovery before they leave office.

Eg TSR2

 

[TheHSRailFan]

This is a dark day, I expect other countries to be laughing at us right now.

 

[Trestrol]

Should have built a conventional railway London to Birmingham. Probably using part of the GC route. Spend the money saved on reinstating the slow lines on the ECML and other route upgrades.Laying all the track on a concrete slab must have pushed up the price.

 

[matacaster]

Good job they published the IRP

Oops misread that ...I thought you'd put RIP!

 

[stu]

Won't believe anything the mainstream media say until it's announced by the government themselves.

Won't believe the media, but will believe the government when they announce it - I mean that's one way of looking at it!

From my POV, it's bonkers to announce something like this that will effect Manchester when you are holding your conference in Manchester. You couldn't make it up!

 

[HSTEd]

Should have built a conventional railway London to Birmingham. Probably using part of the GC route. Spend the money saved on reinstating the slow lines on the ECML and other route upgrades.

A conventional railway would have suffered from the same budgetary problems as HS2, it would not hav ebeen significantly cheaper.

And after so many failed upgrade programmes, why would this ECML one succeed?
WCRM failed, Great Western upgrade failed even more catastrophically etc etc etc

Laying all the track on a concrete slab must have pushed up the price.

Not significantly, and will save piles of money in the long run.

 

[matacaster]

Another brilliant decision by this lame duck 'Government'. The quicker they are gone the better. I'd like to hear what Andy Burnham has to say about it...

What Andy Burnham says is pretty irrelevant he doesn't dictate labour policy nor does he have any money. He's just going to make vacuous speeches.

 

[Deepgreen]

This is a dark day, I expect other countries to be laughing at us right now.

They have been for ages...

2A wouldn't be too hard to reinstate even if the land was all sold, it's mostly through open farmland.

2B was in doubt anyway, wasn't it?

Someone still owns farmland and it can command a very high price if circumstances are right.

 

[12LDA28C]

Should have built a conventional railway London to Birmingham. Probably using part of the GC route. Spend the money saved on reinstating the slow lines on the ECML and other route upgrades.Laying all the track on a concrete slab must have pushed up the price.

If I had a pound for every time I'd heard this claim, along with 'white elephant' or 'vanity project' I'd be a rich man and could have paid for HS2 in full myself. Which doesn't make your assertion any more valid.

 

[Sorcerer]

What kind of mindset does it take for Rishi Sunak to even dare think about scrapping the Manchester leg of HS2 in the very city that will be losing out on it? At this point the only thing left to scrap aside from the whole project itself is the Euston to Old Oak Common leg, but surely not?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Let's wait and see what these other transport projects are before judging too harshly. Thinking about it they will probably be out of office before any of them start so Manchester leg might be reinstated by the new incoming government.

When will a member of the Shadow Cabinet be announcing the commitment of the Labour Party to go ahead with the Birmingham to Manchester stage of HS2?

 

[Sunil_P]

Tory wipe-out north of Birmingham