The government has been accused of committing a “great train robbery” after Grant Shapps confirmed the eastern leg of HS2 has been scrapped and plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail have been downgraded.
The transport secretary told MPs that a new £96bn Integrated Rail Plan for the north and the Midlands will instead deliver “faster” train journeys both earlier and cheaper than the original HS2 plans would have done.
But a senior Tory criticised the government for “selling perpetual sunlight” and delivering “moonlight” for people in the North of England.
Image: Boris Johnson says the Integrated Rail Plan ‘will be the biggest transport investment programme in a century’Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the announcement as “a much better plan” and said it was “total rubbish” to suggest he was breaking his former promises on rail connections.
Unveiling the new plan in the Commons, Mr Shapps confirmed that the eastern leg of HS2 will no longer go all the way to Leeds. It will instead stop in the East Midlands near Nottingham.
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Plans for HS2 were originally meant to connect London with the city centres of Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds.
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