Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has confirmed that the northern part of HS2 is under review as he criticized the scheme’s costs.
In an interview with LBC Radio on Thursday evening (September 21), Hunt was asked if he could commit to building the HS2 section in Manchester for good.
“I’m not going to comment on the discussions that are going on at this time,” he said. “As chancellor, you would expect me to have conversations with the prime minister when major infrastructure projects outrun their costs and that’s what we’re facing with HS2.”
When told that MPs with seats in the north of England would be worried about the mega-project not reaching their areas, he again criticized the costs.
“They will also be concerned if we have an infrastructure project where the costs are totally spiraling out of control and that’s why you would expect me, as chancellor, to be arguing,” he said. “We haven’t made a decision on that, we’re looking at all options, but we have to find a way to deliver infrastructure projects in a way that doesn’t cost taxpayers billions and billions of pounds.”
HS2 told ministers earlier this year that the first phase, from Euston to Birmingham, would exceed its £40.3 billion cost target.
In January, Hunt denied reports that Euston would be scrapped as London’s main terminal, but in March the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that Phase 2 in Manchester and construction of the £4.8 billion Euston Terminal pounds would be delayed due to increased costs.
In June, the DfT said it would look to review Euston’s design and potentially partner with new private sector companies to deliver it.
HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston announced his resignation in July.
Last week, The independent published a photograph of a document in Hunt’s possession that appeared to show calculations of the savings to be made by scrapping different parts of the project, fueling speculation that the Manchester section would be scrapped, as the eastern section to Leeds in 2021.
The chief executive of the Association of Civil Engineering Contractors, Alasdair Reisner, said last week that canceling the route would damage the UK economy.
“No British government has taken such a short-sighted and self-defeating decision since Harold Wilson’s administration stopped work on the Channel Tunnel in the mid-1970s,” he said.
“Cancelling the second part of HS2 would not only make the UK an international laughing stock – it will actively undermine the life chances of generations of Britons, damage our ability to tackle climate change and destroy confidence in politics to achieve a better future for all of us.”
HS2 has been approached for comment.
