What is the consensus on scrapping HS2?
In the Conservative conference in Manchester Rishi Sunak officially announced cancelling the rest of the HS2 project. He now promises to reinvest “every single penny” into new transport projects in the North and in the Midlands that will make a “real” difference.
This multi-billion high speed rail route was meant to bridge together the north-south divide, connecting northern cities like Leeds to the economic centre, London.
Sunak has now announced that everything beyond Birmingham will now be cancelled, even though it is already under construction. The project will now create £36bn worth of savings which will be switched to more spending on local transport based projects under the Network North scheme.
His words were “the facts have changed, and the right thing to do when the facts change, is to have the courage to change direction”. He has now vowed to create a “Midlands rail hub” that will connect 50 different stations, including building a tram system in Leeds along with upgrading a series of major roads and extending the West Midlands metro.
The High Speed Rail Group criticised Sunak saying he has caused the “biggest and most damaging U-turn in the history of UK infrastructure”. Scrapping a 14 year project that has been plagued by delays and cost overruns cannot just be done because “we’ve changed our mind”.
A key question would be, what has been the reaction of the North to Sunak’s decision? Collectively, the newly announced smaller transport projects could positively affect a wider area and benefit people in smaller northern towns. Such as Sunak pledging a £2.5billion investment in a new tram system for Leeds alongside a number of other schemes in Yorkshire.
Tees Valley Conservative major, Ben Houchen said “good riddance” to the cancellation of the project as he believed it would offer ”absolutely no benefit” to wider regions in the North.
Alternatively, towns such as Crewe in East Cheshire that were promised so much now worry about its future. Mrs Mellor says that “the railway was what kept the town running”. The hopes of brighter opportunities for jobs for younger generations has now been left forgotten. Conservative MP of Crewe spoke of his “extreme disappointment” as the HS2 project would have transformed their local economy.
Ultimately, whilst the government has proposed new and exciting plans they have continually been accused of ‘broken promises’ and could be seen to have a lack of trust with its voters. So will these new projects actually happen? After the scrapping of the eastern leg from Birmingham to Leeds in 2021, who is to say we may not have a similar circumstance.
The northern population needs reassurance that transport schemes will take place to improve their connectivity and standard of living in the most beneficial way.
If these projects fall under it will have a substantial impact on the way people vote and view the government from the North.
