HS2 scrap will 'likely benefit St Helens', say Rainford councillors

At the Conservative Party conference earlier this month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the new high speed railway line would end in Birmingham, rather than travelling through Manchester as was discussed for the best part of a decade.

The HS2 project's cost had "more than doubled", Mr Sunak told the Conservative party conference that the government would instead reinvest "every single penny, £36 billion, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country".

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The PM announced the news at the Conservative Party conference (Image: PA)
Speaking about the issue, Conservative councillors in Rainford, Linda Mussell and John Case said that while they were initially disappointed by this decision, they believe that the decision "could be better for St Helens and the whole of the north of England".

In a statement, the councillors said: "The fact that some of the £36 billion of money from the HS2 cancellation will be spent on the 'Northern Powerhouse Rail line' is very welcome and will be likely to benefit St Helens and its people, more than the HS2 extension.

"The rail network in the north has fallen behind that of the Southeast, but [we] feel that the reallocation of funds to develop the Northern rail infrastructure is in fact a wise use of public funds.

"The benefits of this investment in roads and rail in the north would result in tangible improvements in transport for the people of St Helens and the northern region.

"The whole HS2 project was clearly running out of control. It was initially estimated that it would cost £36 billion, but the latest forecasts were between £100 and £120 billion.

"The benefits of a reduction in travel time from Manchester to London of 20 minutes seemed to be small considering the astronomical and rising costs.

"There would have been an increase in capacity on the overcrowded West Coast line, and maybe more freight could be transported on the rail network if the scheme had gone ahead, but the ballooning costs were clearly the main factor in the government’s decision to scrap the northern Leg of HS2."

HS2 will now travel from London to Birmingham (Image: PA)
Pointing out that the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer has also not committed to rebuilding HS2's northern leg, the Rainford councillors said that the money could be better used on local projects such as a new rail link from Rainford to Skelmersdale, along the Kirkby to Wigan line, as well as an increased frequency of trains and modern units from Rainford.

The councillors also said that a revamp of Rainford station and its car park, and the proposed new rail station at Carr Mill is a better redirection of public funds, rather than “shaving off a few minutes from the journey from Manchester to London."

The councillors added: "While it is right that local politicians should wish to promote projects for our region, to describe the cancellation of the HS2 northern leg and to redirect funds as a 'betrayal of the North' is quite simply wrong.

"There are large areas of the North of England that HS2 would never have served, e.g. The North East. Now, with the redirection of funds all of the areas from Birmingham to the Scottish borders can benefit from improved connectivity."