The PWI is hugely disappointed by the Government’s decision, announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this morning at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, to scrap the section of the HS2 railway route intended to connect Birmingham and Manchester. 

Rail ridership is undeniably returning to pre-covid levels – and already above that on some long-distance routes. Against that background, abandoning this portion of HS2, compounding the earlier scrapping of the high-speed route to Leeds and the link to the Anglo-Scottish main line at Golborne (north of Wigan), dramatically reduces the very long-term economic and environmental benefits to the whole UK that would flow from very fast, high capacity, low carbon transport linking the UK’s major cities. 

This decision will delay the relief of capacity constraints on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) and in the Manchester area.  Development of rail transport in the northwest of England will be adversely affected for a generation or more.  Cancellation is also a serious blow to the release of WCML capacity which would have provided for additional freight traffic.  This will limit the potential for modal shift of container freight from road to rail.  

In the face of the recommendations of the Government’s Union Connectivity Review, journey times to Scotland are unlikely to improve as HS2 trains, which don’t “tilt” on curves, will be slower when running on the existing network north of Birmingham.  

The Institution acknowledges Government’s intention to divert the investment intended for HS2 to “hundreds and hundreds” of smaller transport infrastructure improvements across the country including Leeds Tram, North Wales main line electrification, and “Network North”.  The prospect of many such schemes will be welcome, however it is unlikely that the business cases, designs, and plans for construction are anywhere near “shovel ready”.  The decision’s impact on Northern Powerhouse Rail is uncertain as is the cumulative extent and timing of the overall economic benefit to the North.  

Through apprenticeship schemes, HS2 has been fertile ground for developing a future generation of technicians and engineers.  Government’s proposed new projects must provide opportunities for these people and for future apprenticeships, sustaining the UK’s capacity to develop and deploy skilled engineering capability.  

Whilst acknowledging the issues that have affected the HS2 project, it is important to recognise that the project has been led by Government.  Government’s own decisions on changes to scope and specification lie at the root of many of the delays and cost increases.  The UK’s poor performance contrasts with that of countries around the globe including France, Spain, China, and Japan, where high speed rail schemes (and others) are routinely delivered to time and to budget.  Indeed, whilst Government has proposed a raft of alternative infrastructure schemes, the timing of these and Government’s capability to deliver them remain open to serious question.  Government itself must learn lessons from HS2.  

Recognising the work already done on phases 2a and 2b of HS2, the PWI is concerned that these routes must be safeguarded so that options to take all or parts of the project forward in the future remain open.