Tory Rail Minister ’embarrassed’ by 18-month wait for Leeds HS2 …
It’s been more than 18 months since Boris Johnson’s government dramatically axed the Leeds leg of HS2[1] – before promising angry local leaders a study into how the controversial high speed rail line might at some point reach the city.
But when will this report actually come out? Rail Minister Huw Merriman, pressed on the issue at Friday’s Northern Research Group conference in Doncaster, fell back on official government terminology to say it would be ‘soon’. Or possibly ‘very soon’.
Grilled by his fellow Tory, Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney, during a panel session, the former chair of the Commons transport select committee acknowledged the report will have major implications for Leeds’ plans for a mass transit system and the blighted land which may or may not be used for a new rail line.
But he admitted that he got himself in trouble with Whitehall officials in the first few months of getting his ministerial job after very slightly changing the script of a speech he gave earlier this year at a conference in Liverpool.
Have your say on HS2 in our poll below:
“The words were ‘the Leeds study will be out soon’,” he said. “And I was so embarrassed by how long it was taking, I actually put the word in ‘very’. And somebody from another department actually rang through to my department to complain that I veered off script. And that tells you all.
“We always used to say the Department for Transport seems very, very good. But why does it always overshoot when it comes to things like studies? I know the answer now.
“And so all I can say is it’s off my desk, off the Secretary of State’s desk, and we’re working very well with another department to make sure it comes out.”
In November 2021 the Government decided to end the Eastern leg of HS2 in the East Midlands rather than bringing it through Yorkshire to Leeds, despite Leeds having safeguarded land in the city for many years in preparation for the high-speed line’s arrival.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to Curzon Street railway station in Birmingham where the HS2 rail project is under construction.
At the time a £100m study was promised about how HS2 trains could be brought to Leeds and how they could integrate with a possible mass transit system. Leeds has long endured the status as the largest urban area in Western Europe without such a system.
The Government also decided to break Boris Johnson’s promise of a new high speed line between Leeds and Manchester. Instead they opted to bring the new line as far as Marsden and upgrade other lines so better journey times could be achieved more quickly.
Mr Merriman added: “It’s really important that [the report] does come out joking aside, because ultimately if we’re not going to deliver HS2 to Leeds there’s a huge amount of land which has actually been taken, which we can then free up from that possession and put it back to the private sector.
“So Asda, for example want to expand their HQ around Leeds. So either we’re going to build this thing where we actually return it back to do something with the land.
“And also it does a lot with West Yorkshire mass transit, which is the £100 million part, it was over 18 months ago that was promised. I’m sorry it’s not out. I can tell you every single day, I do everything I can to get that study out so that we can decide what we’re going to do with regards to Leeds.”
The current status of the HS2 network
Mr Merriman had potentially encouraging news for neighbouring Bradford, whose hopes of a station as part of the flagship Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme were dashed in November 2021 after being left out of the £96bn Integrated Rail Plan.
After being set the challenge by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of finding a way to improve Bradford’s rail links, he said: “I see it as my mission to better connect Bradford.”
And he said he wanted to see a line connecting a new station in the city with the scaled-back NPR line when it’s eventually built.
He added: “I’ve been up to Bradford recently and met with the team, I am absolutely determined that we will deliver a transport solution for Bradford that not only better connects Bradford up but also allows them to regenerate and have a brand new station which will just open up a sheer regeneration scheme.
“They liken it to their own King’s Cross moment. And I’ll tell you what, Jason, I’m absolutely determined to deliver that. So I might need your hands and your help though, in terms of that weight of opinion to invest.”
For politics news and analysis from Leeds and across the North subscribe to The Northern Agenda at www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk[3].
References
- ^ the Leeds leg of HS2 (www.leeds-live.co.uk)
- ^ How Leeds 2023 Year of Culture will show off city’s amazing music, dance, food and sport to the world (www.leeds-live.co.uk)
- ^ www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk (www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk)