Sunak announces scrapping of HS2 leg to Manchester

The PM confirmed the news during his speech at the Tory party conference in Manchester today (October 4, 2023), defending the axing of the northern leg of HS2 with the announcement of plans to spend the money saved on other transport schemes.

“I am ending this long-running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place, we will reinvest every single penny, £36bn, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country.”

These new projects are set to include ‘Network North’, to join up northern cities by rail, and a ‘Midlands Rail Hub’, to connect 50 different stations. The £2 bus fare cap is also set to remain in place across the country.

Sunak told the Conservative party conference, “I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.”