Door onze economieredactie
A British high-speed line will not be built linking London to the north of the country. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believes connectivity, which costs tens of billions, is too expensive and prefers to use the money on other projects.
HS2, as the connection is called, had to go from London via Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. The aim of the high-speed line was to ensure that passengers spent less time traveling from one major city to another.
The plan, launched in 2013, was initially expected to cost around 57 billion euros. Soon costs continued to rise. He now mentions amounts exceeding 90 billion euros. According to some estimates, construction could cost more than $115 billion.
Sunak thought this was too much. He told a Conservative conference in Manchester: “I will scrap the rest of the HS2 project. Instead, we will reinvest every penny in hundreds of new transport projects across the country. That amounts to £36 billion.”
The Government leader believes citizens will benefit more from new connections in the north than from fast connectivity to the capital, which he believes will only be available in Manchester within two decades.
The mayor described the cancellation of the project as disrespectful
Sunak is under great pressure in the run-up to the election to do something about his party’s deficit in the opinion polls. The opposition Progressive Labor Party is comfortably in the lead. The Prime Minister has also previously weakened his government’s climate policy to spare citizens.
Construction of HS2 has continued for years. Local officials have already reacted angrily to reports that the multibillion-dollar project has been cancelled. The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, described this decision as disrespectful to the people in the north.
