The final nail in the HS2 link to Manchester coffin was hammered in today when the Transport Secretary Mark Harper announced today that restrictions preventing the development of land earmarked for the now-scrapped section of HS2 have been lifted.
We reported two weeks ago that the project could be revived by a Labour Government as the land bought by the Government had still not technically been released
However today’s announcement combined with Sir Kier Starmer saying last week that a Labour Government would not reverse Rishi Sunak’s decision announced in Manchester last October means the project is dead in the water
In a written statement to Parliament on Thursday, Mr Harper said he is “formally lifting the safeguarding directions”.
Harper’s decision means that land on the route between Birmingham and Crewe can be developed in a way that would conflict with building the high speed railway.
