Government must deliver original HS2 plan

The London Assembly is calling on the Government to deliver High Speed 2 (HS2) in full, connecting London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

It opposes the plans to scale back to project and is therefore calling on the Government to keep the promises made to London, the North and the Midlands by delivering HS2 in full.

Elly Baker AM, who proposed the motion, said:

“The Government’s decision to scrap HS2 was a disappointing u-turn away from the economic growth, increased capacity and better connectivity that HS2 would offer. It is even worse that they did this without speaking to the political leaders of the regions for whom HS2 was designed to benefit – including London’s leader, our elected Mayor.

“The Government’s new plans won’t deliver the full benefits of HS2 to London and other regions in the UK.

“We need an independent inquiry into how the Government allowed finances to spiral to £100bn and lost control of HS2.”

The full text of the motion is:

This Assembly opposes the decision of the Government to cancel Phase 2 of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester and the scaling back of the expanded Euston terminal.

This Assembly notes that the original plan for HS2 would have connected London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, with the ability to further extend the network in Northern England and Scotland. This original plan would have seen significant increases in transport capacity and connectivity across the country, yet the Government have consistently scaled back plans for HS2 since 2021.

This Assembly understands that this full proposed network would have had many benefits for London, as it could help to ease congestion and improve transport connections which would have delivered major economic growth to London and across the UK.

This Assembly is disappointed that the full benefits of HS2 will not be seen in London, and across the UK, given the Government’s decision, and is extremely concerned that against normal practice in transport planning, the land purchased for HS2 is now being sold off instead of safeguarded for our future. We also note that these decisions were made without engagement of Network Rail, Transport for London or local and regional political leaders, including the Mayor of London.

This Assembly notes that the Government have lost control of the finances of HS2 with costs spiralling from £37.5 billion in 2013 to over £100 billion today. The Assembly welcomes the call for an independent expert inquiry into HS2 to fully reveal how this has happened.

While the Assembly acknowledges that the Government has still committed to deliver HS2 to between London Euston and Birmingham, we have grave reservations around the delivery of the project, with promises of attracting significant private investment unclear, and the impact on local residents and businesses of a new “Euston development zone” extremely concerning.

This Assembly calls on the Government to keep the promises made to London, the North and the Midlands and deliver HS2 in full.