The government is poised to announce a significant boost for train travel in the North of England, with fresh plans that could ultimately see a new railway line built between Manchester and Birmingham.
Northern Powerhouse Rail Takes Centre Stage
An announcement on the long-awaited Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) upgrades is expected imminently. This project aims to create smoother and faster journeys across the north. Crucially, within these plans, officials are examining options for a potential new rail route directly linking Birmingham and Manchester.
This new Birmingham-Manchester connection would be constructed after the core Northern Powerhouse Rail network is delivered. It is important to note that this would not constitute a reinstatement of the scrapped northern leg of the HS2 project. The government has stated it is “learning the lessons of HS2 to ensure that the programme does not repeat its failures.”
The Shadow of HS2's Cancellation
The move comes more than two years after the controversial decision to cancel the HS2 line from Birmingham to Manchester via Crewe. Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the axe in 2023, citing spiralling costs, a move that sparked uproar and left passengers and leaders in the Midlands and North West in limbo.
The cancellation followed the earlier ditching of the second northern leg to Leeds under Boris Johnson's premiership. The cost of the remaining Phase 1 section from London to Birmingham has also ballooned, with estimates now potentially exceeding the earlier £80 billion forecast. A cross-party committee of MPs labelled HS2 “a casebook example of how not to run a major project.”
What Happens Next?
While the NPR announcement is a positive step, significant work remains. Authorities need to determine how a new Birmingham-Manchester link could effectively support the future rail needs of the North before any concrete steps are taken.
In related news, Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her first budget to confirm that HS2 will finally stretch from Old Oak Common to London Euston, ending a year of uncertainty over the London terminus. This provides some clarity for the scaled-back high-speed project, even as ambitions for the North are reconfigured through alternative plans like NPR and the potential new cross-country link.
