Andy Burnham says the decision to cancel Manchester’s HS2 link means the city is only ‘temporarily derailed’.
14.09.2023 - 17:59 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
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Hello,
It’s apparently been 25 years since the first episode of The Royle Family aired. I wonder if that’s what inspired Andy Burnham to channel Jim Royle this morning?
The Greater Manchester mayor was reacting to news that Rishi Sunak is considering scrapping the Manchester leg of HS2.
“Levelling up? My a**e,” he wrote on X. “The Government is guilty of gross mismanagement of HS2 and of making the North pay for their failure.”
At least £2.3bn lost
Mr Burnham was commenting after the Prime Minister and Chancellor apparently met to discuss the possibility of abandoning the second stage of HS2 - which would connect Birmingham and Manchester - as costs spiral amid severe delays.
The Independent’s Jon Stone has revealed that Mr Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have been looking at a cost estimate which shows the government has already spent £2.3bn on stage two of the high-speed railway - but shelving the Northern phase would save up to £34bn. The documents suggest the £2.3bn is not recoverable even if it is cancelled.
And Downing Street this afternoon refused to guarantee the high-speed line will run to Manchester as planned. No 10 suggested ministers would need to balance the interests of ‘passengers and taxpayers’.
Reacting to the news on X, Mr Burnham said scrapping the last of George Osbourne’s 'Northern Powerhouse' rail pledges would mean ‘the southern half of England gets a modern rail system and the North left with Victorian infrastructure’.
"Once again, passengers here are seen as second-class citizens. It’s time for an
Andy Burnham says the decision to cancel Manchester’s HS2 link means the city is only ‘temporarily derailed’.
Rishi Sunak has announced a major change to secondary education that will bring together A-levels and T-Levels.
The Manchester leg of HS2 has been cancelled, the Prime Minister has confirmed today. The high-speed railway line, which is currently being built between London and Birmingham, will not reach the North of England as planned.It follows weeks of speculation over the fate of the second phase of the multi-billion pound scheme. Ministers have repeatedly refused to confirm whether HS2 line to Manchester will go ahead since reports first emerged last month that the government was considering shelving the plans due to concerns about spiraling costs and severe delays.
Rishi Sunak - widely expected to announce the axing of the Manchester leg of HS2 - will criticise decades of politicians making 'the easy decision, not the right one' when he takes to the stage at the Conservative Party Conference in the heart of the city.
Andy Burnham has reacted with fury after reports HS2 trains will come to Manchester - but on 'normal tracks'. Sky News tonight reported that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has decided to drastically alter the northern leg of the high-speed rail project to save money, effectively scrapping the high-speed stretch to Manchester.
Rishi Sunak laughed after he was grilled by Susanna Reid about 'letting down the people of Manchester' amid reports he is planning to axe the northern HS2 leg.
This is an opinion letter and does not necessarily represent the views of the Manchester Evening News.
It's over four years since Andy Burnham announced Bolton, Stockport and Wigan were next in line to be connected to the Metrolink network.
An independent inquiry into the treatment of women and girls in Greater Manchester Police custody has issued an open appeal for others to come forward and share their experiences.
Controversial cuts proposed at two fire stations in Greater Manchester have been scrapped, with plans to increase cover in the city centre set to go ahead. Plans to stop manning Sale and Offerton stations at night were proposed as part of a review by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS).
The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has been warned he is 'risking the cohesion' of the country over HS2, as Labour mayors including Andy Burnham said axing the high-speed rail route to Manchester would result in 'international embarrassment and a national outrage'.
Five Labour mayors including Andy Burnham have warned failure to deliver in full on HS2 would 'leave swathes of the North with Victorian transport infrastructure unfit for purpose'.
Sixty businesses have backed Andy Burnham's plans for technical education which the government has branded 'narrow' and 'unequal'. Microsoft, Heinz and the BBC are among the big employers to sign up to the mayor's scheme.
Andy Burnham today apologised for 'teething problems' on the first working day of Greater Manchester's new bus system, but insisted by and large the launch has gone well.
Political leaders have told the Prime Minister scrapping HS2 rail to Manchester would have 'massive ramifications' on the city region and the north west as a whole.
The mayor of Greater Manchester has said he will personally write to the Prime Minister and urge him to not scrap HS2.
The launch of bus franchising today - putting power back into the hands of the people over operators - heralds the start of the Bee Network in Greater Manchester.
The Prime Minister will deliver a speech today in Downing Street at 4.30pm.
Keep up to date with all the big stories from across Greater Manchester in the daily Mancunian Way newsletter. You can receive the newsletter direct to your inbox every weekday by signing up right here.
Andy Burnham has said Labour will bring HS2 to Manchester despite the party failing to guarantee that the high-speed railway project will go ahead over the weekend. The Greater Manchester mayor said he has been reassured that the party's commitment to two major northern railway projects has not changed.