Manchester leaders propose HS2 workaround
Manchester City Council Leader Bev Craig and GM Mayor Andy Burnham are “open” to conceding some ground in the short term in a bid to prevent the Prime Minister scrapping the Northern leg of the rail project entirely.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are this week expected to make an announcement on whether or not the Northern leg of HS2 – connecting Birmingham with Manchester – will go ahead.
Ministers are keen to pare back the project amid soaring costs. The Eastern leg connecting Birmingham with Leeds has already been binned and the plug has also been pulled on Northern Powerhouse Rail, the east-to-west line connecting the major cities in the North.
With an announcement on the future of HS2 pencilled in for the end of the week, Burnham and Craig want to open up a dialogue with Whitehall in the hopes of salvaging the project.
“If you are adamant on making changes to the scheme, we could be open to a discussion about prioritising the Northern section of the line, between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, so that it enables NPR to be built first,” a letter to Rishi Sunak states.
“We believe the North of England needs new North-South and East-West rail infrastructure and should not be forced to choose between them in the same way that London hasn’t been forced such a choice.”
Scroll down to the bottom of this article read the letter in full
The leaders said the offer would be conditional on NPR being built in full – including an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly and a new line via Bradford – and a “clear commitment that HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester is not being scrapped but re-phased and the protections left in place”.
Scrapping the Birmingham to Manchester portion of the infrastructure project would be the final nail in the levelling up coffin, according to Craig and Burnham.
The letter ends: “If you refuse to accept any of what we are saying, we believe that people here will conclude that your promises to level up the North, on which this Government was elected, are utterly meaningless.”
What does the industry think?
Place North West reached out to experts across the region’s property industry to see what they make of the potential scrapping of the Northern leg of HS2. Here is what they said:
Simon Bedford, partner at Deloitte – If confirmed, this is definitely not the news we wanted. HS2 has dominated much of the levelling up narrative for a number of years – in my view to a much greater degree than it should have done.
High-quality transport infrastructure is critical to sustainable and inclusive economic growth but we also need investment into our health and social care system, education and we need to accelerate our work in climate change resilience and investment into our frontier growth sectors such that we can maintain and grow our regional economy.
These areas have been woefully under invested in recent years. We need to reset our near and longer-term plans such that we can secure investment across a whole range of areas. HS2 should definitely not be taken off the table – but we need to amplify our other ambitions as well.
Ellie Philcox, director at Euan Kellie Property Solutions – This is another political decision revealing Westminster’s London-centric approach to the UK. It’s a short-sighted choice with long-term implications for real people. Levelling up isn’t just an idea, it’s essential for people outside of London to build businesses and lives and should exist outside of party politics.
Manchester has been preparing for the arrival of HS2 for decades, in whatever form it comes, through the preparation of Strategic Regeneration Frameworks around Piccadilly Station and Mayfield . This decision pulls the rug out from under many years of public and private sector investment decisions and risks stalling essential commercial and residential developments that the city region desperately needs.
Jessica Bowles, director of strategic partnerships and impact at Bruntwood – “The continued lack of commitment around the future of HS2 is incredibly damaging to the long-term growth of the UK’s regions. Without clarity, businesses are unable to make long-term decisions, which is going to have a knock-on effect to the north’s long-term prosperity if allowed to continue.
“There is huge opportunity in the UK’s northern cities, and HS2 – alongside an integrated transport network across the North – is a critical part of building a successful modern economy that will allow our regional cities to thrive. We are therefore calling on the government to make a decision so that we can propel regional growth and more effectively promote the opportunities in our regional cities on both the domestic and global stage.”
Angela Mansell, managing director, Mansell Building Solutions – Rishi has drastically misjudged this decision. As Andy Burnham said this morning, we are not second-class citizens in the North. The government needs to be focusing on the UK, not just on London. And the issues they need to tackle are housing, transport, and Levelling Up – not small boats. The General Election in May will reveal just how angry people across the north are.
Jonathan Burns, director, Pegasus Group – The impact of the loss of HS2 infrastructure is of such significance that northern mayors, MPs, and council leaders must fight any such decision regardless of their political allegiance. Scrapping, or even delaying the Northern leg would cripple plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail due to its reliance upon HS2 infrastructure out of Manchester. It is perhaps this element that would have the greatest long-term harm to the North West and the North as a whole.
Businesses need certainty to invest in the region – something highlighted by the car industry following last week’s announcements. A certainty that needs to transcend political cycles. Mixed messages are already hampering investments in the north of England and will see finance being lost to other, more clear-thinking nations.
It seems incredibly odd timing for these leaks and discussions to come just a week before the Tory party conference is due to be held in Manchester. Perhaps MPs and ministers attempting to converge on the city by train will focus a few minds on why this investment, and Northern Powerhouse Rail, is so desperately needed.
Paul Dennett, Salford City Mayor – I support Andy Burnham’s call for clarity on, and commitment to, completing HS2 and NPR.
“Everyone knows the North has historically suffered from chronic under-investment for many years and cancelling HS2 to Manchester will further undermine levelling-up between north and south, holding back the Greater Manchester economy for generations to come.
“It will also perpetuate local network problems and the frustrations of our Salford and GM passengers. The North certainly shouldn’t pay the price of the Government’s mismanagement of major infrastructure.
Adam Higgins, co-founder of Capital&Centric – There’s been so much will-they-won’t-they about HS2, I think very few people have hedged their bets on a project that only stacked up because of it. Developers have many more here-and-now issues to tackle: inflation, viability, interest rates, you name it, rather than a 15+ year HS2 arrival date. So I don’t think you can measure the impact that scrapping it would have on current deals, but on the sheer level of missed opportunity in the future and the catalytic effect that such connectivity would have.
“Given how strongly the city region is performing, it would be absolute madness to not bring the link to Manchester. Younger generations are already proclaiming London to be in its flop era and for loads of reasons – affordability being the main one – are planning a life in the north instead. I can see that trend only growing over the next two decades, so a new high-speed link not making it to the city centre would be super shortsighted. It’d also be a growth constraint, as the current creaking infrastructure already struggles to cope with existing demand let alone another two decades of population growth.
Dear Prime Minister
HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN THE NORTH OF ENGLAND
We are becoming increasingly concerned about the rumours swirling around HS2 to Manchester and, by extension, Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).
For over a decade, we have worked closely with successive Governments on this project, to galvanise support and maximise the once in a generation opportunity of investment into northern infrastructure it offers. At this stage, any change to the current plan for HS2 would have massive ramifications not just for our city-region but the North and Midlands too. As HS2 phase 2b delivers key enabling infrastructure for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, any cancellation of HS2 to Manchester would effectively be cancelling NPR in its current form too.
We therefore find it deeply disrespectful to our residents and businesses that we have not been offered any opportunity to feed our views into this process nor have we received any information about what is being considered. We are completely in the dark and that simply isn’t right given how profoundly important this is for our part of the country.
Whilst it is reasonable for any Government to want to ensure HS2 delivers value for money, and that prices do not escalate out of control, the North of England should not have to pay for the Government’s mismanagement of the HS2 budget.
Our purpose in writing, first and foremost, is to ask you for the courtesy of a meeting before any final decision is taken. We believe we are owed that at the very least.
If you were to agree to that, we would convey to you in the strongest possible terms that HS2 should not be scrapped. We believe the North of England needs new North-South and East-West rail infrastructure and should not be forced to choose between them in the same way that London hasn’t been forced such a choice. However, if you are adamant on making changes to the scheme, we could be open to a discussion about prioritising the Northern section of the line, between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, so that it enables NPR to be built first. This would be conditional on two things: NPR being built in full, with an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly and a new line via Bradford; and a clear commitment that HS2 to Manchester is not being scrapped but re-phased and the protections left in place.
We believe this is a reasonable proposal to put to you given the circumstances we find ourselves in. If you refuse to accept any of what we are saying, we believe that people here will conclude that your promises to level up the North, on which this Government was elected, are utterly meaningless.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council
They should do a local referendum to see of anybody in GM actually wants this.
By Gilly
The HS2 has to be coming to Manchester. It makes a lot more sense it coming here than Birmingham. If there were so many rising costs, the birmingham one should have at least been scrapped and the one to Manchester should’ve been prioritised!!
By Anonymous
The only hope is if Labour will commit, but unlikely.
By Anonymous
The mismanagement of this project by central government is staggering. Cancellation of the line from Birmingham to Manchester will confirm that Levelling Up was no more than a political slogan.
By Monty
Only economic incompetents could reject this proposal. So The Treasury in London will reject it.
By Anonymous
They should concede nothing. We will finish up with HS trains crawling along at 80mph after Birmingham which will be pointless. Tell them to stick it and Burnham and Craig should make it clear to them that they are not welcome here.Betray a city, and then patronise with a two day conference. You couldn’t make it up. Sunak thinks Manchester is Calcutta in the days of the Raj. A place the colonialists occasionally visited for a cheap jolly. He is rude and offensive and our leaders should make that very clear.
By Elephant
HS2 is a waste of time. The money should be spent on ‘HS3’ Liverpool to Hull via Manchester and Leeds; as well as upgrading the WCML.
By Heritage Action
A Liverpool to Hull and other Northern Cities would be more beneficial for the North.
By Liverpolitis
On the money saved, use it for the Trans Pennine Link (Hull – Liverpool)
By Ian Wiliams
Craig and Burnham need to drop the obsession with the underground station as they have conceded that it could cost an additional £2.5 billion! Sunak is not going to entertain that.
By Sally Cinnamon
If money is the issue then surely the sensible thing to do is to bring the project forward rather than kick into the distant future, when costs will be much higher.
By Anonymous
Ideally, full HS2 connections and NPR should happen. It is not just Manchester here – Liverpool first was screwed over in the original HS2 plans, then Sheffield, then Leeds, and now Manchester (not to mention no note on NE and Newcastle). There should be a Northern assembly and more equity in terms of investment across areas.
By Chris
It should be remembered that we were promised an East/West line between Hull and Liverpool which was designated as HS3, HS2 was supposed to help facilitate HS3. This Government pulled the plug on the East /West line now they are going to pull the HS2 line. Levelling up is an illusion.
By Anonymous
@Gilly, you’re point about holding a referendum about whether anybody in GM actually wants this is perfect evidence on why we shouldn’t hold a referendum. I mean, if after all these years you still don’t understand the need and benefits of HS2 & NPR, there is no way in the world you should be voting on it.
By EOD
HS3 starting at Liverpool to Hull would be more beneficial to the North not just accommodating one city when there is more than just one large city in the North of England and more with better potential with a very large Port for freight.
By Anonymous
Disappointed that the Leaders are suggesting a compromise already Does not bode well. Our country really is incompetent when it comes to delivering major infrastructure (I am tempted to say unless it benefits London – although even there they struggle to control budgets). HS2 is a long term investment. Without it the UK and more particularly the North will under-achieve. Interested to hear more from the business community who have invested assuming Manchester and other parts of the NW will benefit. We all need to be more vocal to local MPs and the government.
By Anonymous
All these people have a vested interest in HS2; with no consideration about the cost to the taxpayer of building a railway nobody needs and no consideration for the hundreds if homes in South Manchester that will be blighted by the Manchester Tunnel
By Anonymous
HS2 needs a re-think alright as it should have been more ambitious and gone right up to Scotland, as in that way you get the maximum benefit from high-speed. Don’t know why it has to call at Crewe as there’s nothing there, instead maybe around Warrington the main line should spur off to Mcr and Lpool using fast but not high-speed lines and that would cost less.
You only have to nip over the channel to see the TGV does not travel high-speed into the major cities, it uses classic lines for the last 10 miles or so into Paris for example.
By Anonymous
Never has the need for a North of England parliament/assembly been clearer. The Labour mayors and council leaders should be screaming at Starmer to back them up!
By Ed
If or when they scrap this it will be interesting to see what sop to the North they come up with after wasting billions . If we’d got the Chinese to build it , it would be finished and half the price.
By Anonymous
Gilly, we should be having a north of England independence referendum.
By Anonymous
Surely getting people around Greater Manchester is a higher priority than expanding London’s commuter belt via HS2. What’s happened to doubling Piccadilly’s through-capacity?
By Anonymous
Everyone knows that ‘HS3’/NPR will be more beneficial for Manchester and the North as a whole compared to HS2. But our government won’t commit to either.
By Verticality
I am 79 years old. And do not believe in anything politicians say. It’s broken promises all the time. I am still a tax payer, so why have the politicians allowed for the obscene spending in London not just on transport but on infrastructure tunnels for sewage and electricity millions spent.
While we in Leeds have 20 year old buses passing our house. Spewing out black diesel fumes.
All because our politicians don’t care. About the north.
By James Smith
HS2 is the most important infrastructure project that must be built in full. As well as NPR. It is not just to move people quickly to Birmingham and Manchester, but to free up capacity on the West Coast main line WCML to allow more freight to be moved from the container ports of Southampton, London gateway and Felixtowe. It’s not many years ago that Westminster refused permission for a privately funded high capacity freight line from the north west to the channel tunnel. Governments should be barred by law to have any control over procurement or project management of desperately needed infrastructure. Just look at mod procurement for how much money is wasted every year. Leeds and the Midland connection should also be reinstated. Ultimately the scheme should reach Edinburgh via the east and Glasgow vis the west then link the two Scottish cities. This was discussed many years ago. Just think how many British people would be employed, further boosting the economy. Change the role of government NOT destroy this country.
By Rob
Sorry but the train from London to Manchester has to go ahead. There are soo many people living in Manchester that work in London and need to go in almost every day. It makes a lot more sense for the HS2 to start from the capital to the capital of the north. If this not go ahead. I am protesting!!!
By Anonymous
A pannorth connecting the North to other parts of the North is not going do that much. Connecting the North West to the East of England via the East Midlands and the North East to the South West via the west Midlands would do far more. and there are a lot of secondary rail lines with bottle necks that could be sorted out to make it happen at a relatively low cost.
By JB
London has has Cross Rail and will have HS2. It is only right that the government commit to HS2 to Manchester and and East-West Line from Liverpool.
Levelling up to as a bold and interesting vision. The reality has been different.
By Anonymous
I have voted for this government for the last 10+ years but i dont think i can anymore. This Government has really failed in so any places. From investments to policing to imagination.
HS3 needs to be first. Need a new government who puts the north first for once. Only when hs3 built, carry on with hs2 starting in Manchester going down. Why does everything start down south to come up.
But who do you vote for as they all seem as bad as one another.
By DG
Not happening Manchester waste of money and investment for the tax payer
By Anonymous
It’s amusing how many in Manchester desperately want the rest of the northern cities to feel their outrage. Nope. One collosal waste of money. Once Osbourne lost influence Manc fell back into the pack.
By Anonymous
Let’s drop the names HS2 and NPR. Let’s start with the need for Additional Rail capacity accepting that all of our existing infrastructure is at capacity. We don’t need trains that run at 250 mph – that drives an infrastructure requirement that we just don’t need. It is capacity we need – a new west coast railway line to London that serves Manchester and Liverpool would be sufficient. Integrating that with new rail capacity running east – west from Liverpool via the Manchester Airport to Bradford, Leeds and Hull would be great. This is AC1. And yes we need an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly to act as the fulcrum and to future proof all of that new infrastructure for the next 150 years.
By Anonymous
The rumour is that Sunak is going to plough ahead with connections to Euston. Therefore HS2 at 50 billion pounds will be a commuter train for North of London people, working in the capital. Some compromise for people in Manchester. I notice that it isn’t on the front pages of the papers now, allowing Sunak breathing space to ignore the problem. The treatment of people in the North by all governments now for half a century, has been nothing short of a callous betrayal. This is personal now.
By Elephant
Sorry Anonymous 9.21, This really is small beer with what’s been happening here over the past 20 yrs or more. If you check out any metric or report on just this site as I’m sure you’ll know, there is no ‘pack’ . Just the fact you feel the need to write that indicates a very different reality no?
By Anonymous
To anonymous at 9.21. I suggest that you read the Henley and Partners survey for the world’s richest cities. Manchester lies at number 40. The only English city other than London in the Top 100, and with the exception of Edinburgh which was much lower down, the only British city. Manchester is not in the pack with the rest of the North it is in another league economically. Eight billionaires to London’s Thirty Six, and rising, so if Sunak wants to stop a high speed train, between his only really successful city, other than the capital, then he is even more incompetent than we all think.
By Elephant
Anonymous 1:10 I don’t think it’s about one big city in the north. The original idea as I understand it was the HS2 & HS3 would complement each other for the benefit of the whole of the north. Quite frankly it’s embarrassing that a SO CALLED prominent nation cannot design and implement and infrastructure project such as this…..speaks volumes as to the state of our country.
By Manc Man
From an environmental perspective HS2 can benefit Birmingham airport and therefore take some of the pollution away from Manchester, this added to the new fleet of locally controlled, battery powered buses has to be welcomed.
By Anonymous
Anonymous 9.21am this is not just about Manchester it impacts the whole of the North. HS2 was meant to enable the East / West high-speed line between Hull and Liverpool to be built , cancellation of HS2 means all Northern cities will continue to have an antiquated rail system.
By Anonymous
This was never designed to aid the north, it was just deliberately marketed that way because it served a political purpose for the politicians down there. A big clue for me was that they started building it FROM London outwards rather than from somewhere in the North spreading downwards.
By MrP
He’s in Manchester next week.I’ll bet he’s practicing his new lies right now just like Boris Johnson did, just like New Labour did, just like all politicians do.
By Reformer
Why is it that manchester to leeds is always mentioned and not manchester to sheffield this when there is already a plan to improve manchester with electrification _ why no plans to improve the south trans pennine route via chinley and the hope valley with electrification?
By Anonymous
What about Manchester to Sheffield for South Yorks, North Notts and Lincs. (Reopen Woodhead electric railway, which already runs as far as the moors) and tunnel a motorway under the moors (which also already reaches them and stops). But, a couple of 3-miles tunnels is more than this broken country can afford, apparently: We must be bankrupt. Amazing what the Victorians did, they must have been dead rich.
By Anonymous
Hs2 needs scrapping and the money spent on the improving the rail system for the whole of the uk. Underestimated the costs as well as the environmental damage for a slightly shorter journey for a minority of people.
By Anonymous
The vast majority of people I have spoken to do not want hs2 to go ahead – total waste of tax payers money
By Anonymous