Middlesbrough MP calls scrapping of Eastern HS2 leg a betrayal of trust
Transport Secretary made the announcement today
Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald is one of several MPs accusing the government of a betrayal of trust after scrapping the eastern leg of HS2 was announced today.
While the high speed rail line wasn't going to reach as far as Teesside it was set to make journey times to the capital shorter.
The Middlesbrough MP tweeted: 'We’ve had promise after promise from Tories in Government and here’s another one ripped to shreds. You can’t trust a word they say.'
Andy McDonald has been speaking of his proposed 2019 rail plan on Twitter, and labelling todays announcement as a 'betrayal'.
Nigel Harris, managing editor of RAIL Magazine, tells us this is hugely damaging, for the public and politicians.
"The Prime Minister is known for U-turns, and maybe sufficient pressure can bring that about. People often criticise politicians for a U-turn as an act of weakness, but if you're in a car heading for a cliff edge a U-turn would seem like a rather sensible strategy."
What was announced?
The eastern section of HS2 has been scrapped as the Transport Secretary announced his new Integrated Rail Plan this morning'.
Grant Shapps introduced the plan in the House of Commons, which also downgraded plans for the Northern Powerhouse Rail.
The Transport Secretary said the £96 billion Integrated Rail Plan would still slash journey times across the region with 110 miles of new high-speed line.
HS2 was originally planned to run to Leeds, but in the announcement today Grant Shapps said it would now stop near Nottingham.
The £96 billion plan does still keep some of the high-speed rail lines, the Transport Secretary told the Commons: “This new blueprint delivers three high-speed lines. First, that’s Crewe to Manchester.
“Second, Birmingham to the East Midlands with HS2 trains continuing to central Nottingham and central Derby, Chesterfield and Sheffield on an upgraded mainline. And third, a brand new high-speed line from Warrington to Manchester and to the western border of Yorkshire – slashing journey times across the north.”
Laughter could be heard from Labour MPs at the reference to the “western border” of Yorkshire.
Yesterday (17 November) rail union RMT branded the Government's U-turn as the “great northern rail betrayal", stating that their decision would have detrimental effects on future generations and the climate.
Key points from todays plan
The key points of the Integrated Rail Plan are:
The extension of HS2 from the East Midlands to Leeds has been scrapped. HS2 trains will instead run on existing lines.
Northern Powerhouse Rail between Leeds and Manchester will be a combination of new track and enhancements to existing infrastructure.
Plans to fully electrify the Midland Main Line and the Transpennine route, and upgrade the East Coast Main Line.
The Integrated Rail Plan
Grant Shapps told MPs: “I’ve heard some people say that we’re just going about electrifying the TransPennine route – this is wrong.
“What we’re actually doing is investing £23 billion to deliver Northern Powerhouse rail and the TransPennine route upgrade, unlocking east-west travel across the north of England.
“So, in total, this package is 110 miles of new high-speed line, all of it in the midlands and the north.
“It’s 180 miles of newly-electrified line, all of it in the midlands and the north.”
He added: “We’ll upgrade the east coast mainline with a package of investment on track improvements and digital signalling, bringing down journey times between London, Leeds, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh – bringing benefits to the North East much, much sooner than under the previous plans.”
No HS2 link for Leeds?
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government will “study” how best to take HS2 trains into Leeds and committed to starting work on a West Yorkshire mass transit system.
He said: “We’ll study how best to take HS2 trains into Leeds as well. We’ll start work on the new West Yorkshire mass transit system, righting the wrong of this major city, probably the largest in Europe which doesn’t have a mass transit system.
“We commit today to supporting West Yorkshire Combined Authority over the long-term to ensure that this time it actually gets done.”
"The Great Train Robbery"
Labour’s shadow transport secretary described the integrated rail plan announcement as a “great train robbery”.
Jim McMahon added that the Government had “betrayed” the North.
The Oldham West and Royton MP said Boris Johnson had broken a promise on HS2 made “60 times” in the past few years, adding: “Boris Johnson was elected to level the playing fields, to make things better for households across the country.
“We were promised a Northern Powerhouse, we were promised a Midlands Engine, to be levelled up. But what we have been given today is a great train robbery.”
Promises of shorter rail times
Grant Shapps listed some of the cuts to journey times he says this revised plan will deliver.
Northern Powerhouse Rail will connect Leeds and Manchester in 33 minutes, down from 55 minutes now.
Bradford to Leeds in 12 minutes - almost half the time it takes today.
HS2 East will run direct from central Nottingham to Birmingham in 26 minutes, down from 1 hour 14 minutes now, and from central Nottingham to London in 57 minutes. HS2 will also run from London to Sheffield in 1 hour 27 minutes.
HS2 West will run from London to Manchester in 1 hour 11 minutes and from Birmingham to Manchester in 41-51 minutes, compared to 86 minutes today.
York and Manchester down from 83 minutes to 55 minutes.
Trips from Newcastle to Birmingham will be slashed by almost 30 minutes
Contactless tickets across the north and midlands
It was announced yesterday (17 November) that 400 train stations across the north and Midlands will instead get contactless 'tap-in and tap-out' ticketing systems introduced, as part of a £360m investment 'to radically reform and overhaul rail passengers’ experience of fares, ticketing and retailing'.
This ticketing system has been in place on London's tube and train stations since 2014.