Plans to connect Manchester and the North of England to London and the Midlands with High Speed Rail could be under threat following Theresa May’s decision to hold a snap election.
Reports speculating on the contents of the Conservative election manifesto claim that the party wants to put halt to £100billion HS2 high-speed rail network to save money for Brexit and that MP’s persuaded the Prime Minister to abandon plans to build a line linking London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
It is claimed that Downing Street’s policy unit is actively considering a pause to the project being included in the Conservatives’ election manifesto.
A government source said “It is being discussed but it is by no means a done deal.”
The bill setting out the building of the first section from London to Birmingham was passed back in February while HS2 has submitted a contract notice to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), formally launching the £2.75 billion contract for the design, manufacture and maintenance of around 60 new high-speed trains.
However the second section linking Manchester and Leeds to the network has still to be given Parliamentary approval.
