The eastern leg of HS2 to Leeds is scrapped with no east-west line linking Leeds to Manchester being built, said the then Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps.
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MANCHESTER, Oct 4 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled the northern leg of the costly HS2 high-speed rail project on Wednesday and pledged to invest billions of pounds in local rail and road links instead, saying it was more suitable for a post-pandemic world.
From November 2021 to June 2022, substantial parts of HS2 were dropped. As part of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands, it was announced that most of the eastern leg of phase 2b from Birmingham via the East Midlands to Leeds/York would be dropped.
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages.
HS2 does not anticipate being the fastest network once it is up and running. Indeed, Japan has already test-run a new bullet train, powered by electrically charged magnets, which reached an incredible 603km per hour.
How much will tickets cost? There is likely to be a premium of between 20 and 33 per cent for using the fast service. That would in theory push the cost of a London-Manchester Anytime ticket from £180 to £240 at 2020 prices, which works out at 6p per second.
HS2 currently has five TBMs in the ground, with a further five due to be launched over the coming years. Together they will create 64 miles (103 kilometres) of tunnel between London and the West Midlands including major tunnels on the approaches to London and Birmingham.
HS2 will be delayed by another two years and major roadbuilding schemes will be mothballed, ministers have confirmed, after soaring inflation added billions to the cost of transport infrastructure projects.
HS2 plagued by delaysThe initial opening date of 2026 has fallen back to 2033, while cost estimates have spiralled from about £33bn in 2010 to £71bn in 2019 - excluding the final eastern leg from the West Midlands to the East Midlands.
Most of the HS2 route in London will run through newly constructed tunnels. Beginning underground at Euston, the route goes to Old Oak Common, before emerging just south of the Ruislip Golf Course in West Ruislip, and then continuing on the surface.
The main gain of HS2 is that it frees up space on the rail network for more freight services. This point has often been missed in discussions about the project. There is no doubt that there would be environmental gains. The passenger gains are less compelling and less urgent.
HS2 passengers will travel in the first driverless trains on a British cross-country mainline under specifications given to manufacturers by ministers, The Telegraph can disclose.
The HS2 rail line will provide significant extra capacity for passengers and freight within the UK and to continental Europe, along with other significant predicted national and local economic benefits that will come from sharing some of the South East's wealth.
HS2 was originally envisaged to operate more trains an hour and higher speeds than any comparable high-speed line elsewhere in the world. It has been estimated that this pushed up costs by about 10 per cent.
High Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd is a non-departmental public body, wholly funded by the Secretary of State for Transport and sponsored by the Department for Transport. The HS2 project is one of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK.
In terms of speed, HS2's planned top speed of 225 miles per hour (mph) could make it Europe's fastest rail network. Over the years, successive governments have pitched HS2 as a way to reduce regional economic disparities. It has so far employed nearly 30,000 workers.