With over £20bn spent on Phase One – the line going from London to the West Midlands – already, the government said it was shifting towards prioritising this opening stage, with the first high-speed rail services set to run between new stations at Old Oak Common in West London and Curzon Street in Birmingham by the early 2030s.
It added that while it remains “fully committed” to delivering HS2 from Euston to Manchester, inflationary pressures coupled with the UK’s struggling finances have forced the DfT to delay the Birmingham and Crewe leg by two years.
It blamed “challenging economic headwinds” following Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and ongoing supply chain disruption as the global economy recovers from the pandemic, which has made it difficult to deliver the project on time.
The aim is to deliver high-speed services to Crewe and the North West “as soon as possible after accounting for the rephasing of construction”, DfT said.
A 2020 inquiry...