The Construction Equipment Association CEO, Suneeta Johal respond to the announcement that the East Midlands-Leeds HS2 high-speed line would not be built.
The demise of Phase 2b, East Midlands-Leeds HS2 high-speed line, clouds the original vision of HS2 as a dynamic North/South link in line with the levelling up agenda. The concern is whether the government will row back on other infrastructure ‘commitments’. A solid project pipeline is the lifeblood of our sector.”
– Suneeta Johal CEO CEA, (Construction Equipment Association)
The High Speed 2 project (HS2) was intended to create high-speed rail links between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds however has since faced delays.
It was announced today that the HS2 line between the East Midlands and Leeds is being scrapped, however the line from London to Birmingham and Manchester will still go ahead as planned.
This comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson commented that “you’ve been stood waiting on the platform for long enough.” – (Boris Johnson: Our Integrated Rail Plan for HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail in Yorkshire, The Yorkshire Post 2021)
Replacing the HS2 will instead be the Northern Powerhouse Rail which will run from Leeds to Manchester in 33 minutes, cutting journey times almost in half from the 55 minutes current journey duration, and will feature long stretches of brand-new high-speed track.
The London and Birmingham connection of the HS2 project was due to open at the end of 2026. However, is now expected to open between 2029 and 2033 and the second phase of the HS2 project which was due to open in 2032-33, has also been pushed back to 2035-2040.
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, wrote in The Yorkshire Post yesterday his plans for moving forward with the Government’s long-awaited Integrated Rail Plan. You can read the full article here.
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