Labour mayors call for Hull rail links in HS2 statement
Five Labour mayors have urged the government to clarify HS2 plans.
Last updated 27th Sep 2023
Amidst rumours HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester could be scrapped, there are fears for how Northern cities such as Hull would be affected by the change of plan. If cancelled, it would end plans to link Leeds to HS2 via the Northern Powerhouse line.
Labour mayors have called on the government to protect not just connectivity between North and South but also East and West connectivity between Hull and Liverpool.
Speaking at the Visit Hull and East Yorkshire Tourism Conference in Beverley, travel journalist Simon Calder said: "We need commitment, we need to accept that yes it's going to cost a lot of money. It's been an absolute disaster so far but to ditch it now would be an act of national shame."
London mayor Sadiq Khan, West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin, Liverpool's Steve Rotherham, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, and South Yorkshire's Oliver Coppard said in a joint statement that "Failure to deliver HS2 will leave swathes of the North with Victorian transport infrastructure that is unfit for purpose and cause huge economic damage."
A government spokesperson said: “The HS2 project is already well underway with spades in the ground, and our focus remains on delivering it.”
On Tuesday, Home Office minister Chris Philp said Mr Sunak was reviewing how the cost of HS2 could be "controlled" but that no decision had been made on whether to axe or delay the rail project's northern leg.
Simon Calder said: "The whole idea of the Northern Powerhouse Rail and better links is a really important part of 'levelling-up' to give everybody opportunities to great transport.
"At the moment if you want to travel on a proper high-speed train within the UK you can go anywhere you want to as long as it's Kent or France."
Henri Murison from the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said: "As well as HS2 to Manchester being under threat that also means that there's going to be a huge hole in the middle of Northern Powerhouse rail from West Yorkshire and the North East of England"