Will HS2 get scrapped?

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.



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The entirety of the HS2 rail link between London and Birmingham is to be scrapped and replaced with a train of Dacia Sanderos welded together, the government has announced.

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June 2023 In its six-monthly HS2 update, the government says services between Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common should begin between 2029 and 2033, with services to Manchester at some point between 2035 and 2041. July 2023 HS2 is described as “unachievable” by the government's infrastructure watchdog.

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HS2 will be Britain's second purpose-built high-speed line after High Speed 1, which connects London to the Channel Tunnel. The majority of the project is planned to be completed between 2029 and 2033.

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HS2 plagued by delays The 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.

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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.

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Other groups opposing HS2 include the HS2 Action Alliance, The Wildlife Trusts and the Woodland Trust. The group has a chairperson, a treasurer and a campaign manager, relying on donations to pay them. In 2011, it made a fundraiser to pay its campaign manager Joe Rukin.

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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.

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According to recent estimates, adjusted for 2022 inflation figures, the cost of HS2 now stands at as much as £92 billion. Further cost overruns on the first phase of the project could take the overall spending envelope to more than £100 billion.

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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.

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Journeys between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston will take just one hour and 11 minutes on HS2, 54 minutes quicker than today's fastest time by rail.

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The maximum speed currently possible in the UK is 186mph, achieved by Eurostar trains on the HS1 line between London and the Channel Tunnel. The HS1 line is used by Eurostar services and Javelin commuter services from Kent, although the latter have a max speed of 140mph.

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Our Net Zero Carbon Plan HS2 trains will be powered by zero carbon energy from day one of operation, offering a cleaner alternative to long distance car journeys and domestic flights.

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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.

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He continued that HS2 will help support economic growth and make a major contribution towards rebalancing the economy.[284] We take rebalancing the economy to mean stimulating growth outside of London and the South-East, rather than encouraging growth at the expense of London and the South-East.

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It Won't Help and May Hurt the Economy. Studies have found that high-?speed trains can generate new economic development near the stations where the trains stop. However, the same studies show that economic development slows in communities not served by such trains.

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HS2 was expected to cost between 72 billion and 98 billion pounds at 2019 prices, but since then the bill has been pushed up by inflation - which ran at around 18% in the construction industry last year, affecting materials like timber, steel and concrete.

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