2023-10-07 00:00:00
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak, has confirmed that the remaining phases of the HS2 high-speed project, which would connect the outskirts of London with Birmingham, and which were under construction, will be definitively cancelled.
(06/10/2023)
The rail sector was prepared for this news about the UK’s biggest infrastructure project, after months of speculation about cost increases. Sunak attempted to soften the blow for contractors by promising to spend ‘every penny’ of the €41 million saved on the HS2 project on smaller transport improvements across the country, focused on the north and midlands.
Impact
Abandoning the Northern phase, between Manchester and Crewe, could save up to €41 million, out of a total budget that has ballooned to around €115 million. But the knock-on effects will have a huge impact on commercial development around the planned HS2 stations at Manchester Piccadilly and Crewe.
On the other hand, the branch between Birmingham and London will reach Euston, on the outskirts of London, as planned, instead of stopping at Old Oak Common. But the current HS2 management team will no longer be in charge of this project.
The government has already invested €26 million in the purchase of land and property in the second stage of the Birmingham to Manchester railway. It is not yet clear what level of compensation Balfour Beatty and Kier will receive for the early termination of the enabling works contracts on the Birmingham to Crewe phase 2 section.
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