Work on HS2 in Lichfield and the surrounding villages will continue despite the cancellation of the northern leg of the line, the Transport Secretary has confirmed.
Mark Harper clarified the situation in a letter to Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant.
It comes after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed HS2 would no longer run to Manchester.
In his letter, Mr Harper said that the nothing had changed in terms of plans to link Birmingham with the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre as part of Phase 1.
“As you will know, spades are in the ground already and we will continue to deliver Phase 1 of HS2 from London to the West Midlands, with branches to central Birmingham and to Handsacre – where HS2 trains for Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland will join the West Coast Main Line.
“This will provide crucial extra capacity alongside the West Coast Main Line, nearly doubling capacity from 134,000 to 250,000 passengers per day across the primary long-distance operator on the West Coast Main Line and Phase 1 thanks to a major upgrade of the Handsacre Junction which will allow more trains to reach key destinations north of Birmingham.
“Journey times from Birmingham to central London will be cut by half an hour, to just 49 minutes. This will also bring London within two hours of Manchester.”
Mark Harper
There had been uncertainty over what would happen to the line north of Birmingham earmarked for Phase 1 of HS2, with work already having taken place on aspects such as a tunnel under the A38 at Streethay.
Speaking after the Prime Minister’s speech to the Conservative party conference yesterday (4th October), Mr Fabricant said:
“The announcement to cancel this costly project was a brave decision by the Prime Minister – and is the right one.
“Phase 1 will be completed. This not only includes the HS2 line from London to Birmingham, but up to where it joins the west coast main line near Handsacre just north of Lichfield.”
Michael Fabricant
