The government’s plan to axe the northern leg of the HS2 high speed rail line has been condemned by the head of the Business Travel Association (BTA).
Chief executive Clive Wratten repeated his criticism after Rishi Sunak confirmed that the Birmingham to Manchester extension would be dropped amid increasing costs and delays.
Instead the prime minister insisted at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester that £36 billion saved from cancelling the northern section of the line would be reinvested in other transport projects across the UK.
Leaders from more than 30 companies in the north, including Manchester Airports Group, had written to Sunak this week urging him to commit to building HS2 in full.
Transport workers’ union the TSSA also attacked the decision to scrap the line in the north as “wrong-headed”.
Wratten reiterated his claim that scrapping the northern part of HS2 was a “deplorable act of carelessness” on behalf of the government, making a mockery of the levelling-up agenda and not helping the capacity issues some routes are facing.
“Although the business travel industry has changed since the pandemic, with more hybrid and virtual events taking place, in-person travel is the beating heart of our industry,” he insisted.
“The additional £36 million will greatly help towards connecting the corners of our country and we as an industry should welcome the commitment the government is taking to connect the north.
“We urge Sunak to continue ensuring the north is seamlessly connected in an eco-friendly manner and not isolated.”
TSSA joint interim general secretary Peter Pendle said: “This is wrong-headed decision by an out-of-touch Prime Minister who doesn’t have the first clue about railways.
“HS2 wouldn’t just have made north-south journeys easier for passengers it was designed to take rail freight off the road too.
“The British public won’t be taken in by the shiny new projects he’s offered today. None of them are ‘shovel ready’ unlike HS2, they’ll take years to even get started.”
The Department for Transport (DfT) claimed “vast” HS2 savings would be redirected into unprecedented transport investment across the country.
The north will receive £19.8 billion for new inter-city and local links, with a further £12 billion set aside to deliver Liverpool to Manchester Northern Powerhouse Rail route.
A DfT spokesperson said: “Our plan will see HS2 delivered between Birmingham and Euston in central London as planned.
“But every penny that would have been spent building new track between the West Midlands and Manchester will instead be redirected into roads, rail and buses to drive economic growth and provide jobs.
“Rather than just connecting Birmingham and Manchester, we will set aside £12 billion for links between Liverpool and Manchester to ensure the delivery of Northern Powerhouse Rail and then invest £36 billion in hundreds of projects in towns, cities and rural areas across our whole country, and in roads, rail and buses – investment on a truly unprecedented scale that will drive economic growth and provide jobs.”