HS2

A local authority in the North of England is calling for compensation from the government over its decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2. Cheshire East Council wrote to rail minister Huw Merriman and communities secretary Michael Gove seeking compensation totalling £11.2m, to cover a sum invested by the…

The government hailed a raft of smaller transport schemes as it announced the much-rumoured cancellation of parts of HS2, but those plans have done little to cushion the blow “I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project. And in its place, we will reinvest every single penny – £36bn…

The government has declined to confirm whether existing contracts on the HS2 Euston build will still be valid under new plans for the station. Meanwhile, the UK’s largest contractor, Balfour Beatty, which has not yet won work on that part of the megaproject, was represented at a meeting to discuss…

The Department for Transport (DfT) has spent more than £1.25bn on services relating to the cancelled second phase of HS2, according to newly analysed invoices. The largest beneficiary was Arup, which received £272.8m from March 2016 onwards for land referencing, design services and environmental services. Invoices paid by the project’s…

Contractors involved in Phase one of HS2 have expressed their dissatisfaction at prime minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to cancel Phase two of the project, while emphasising the need for effective delivery of the government's alternative rail investment plans. Mace Group chief executive Mark Reynolds, who also co-chairs the Construction Leadership…

This is the extract from the prime minister’s speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester in which he provided his reasons for U-turning on HS2. He also listed the projects on which the money saved will now be spent. A false consensus has taken root but all that matters…

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has announced that he is “cancelling the rest of the HS2 project”, adding that “in its place we will reinvest every single penny of the £36bn in hundreds of new transport projects”. The largest UK construction project in decades has been dramatically cut back, with Sunak…

Eight groundworks firms that were last week appointed on a framework for preliminary works on the HS2 line from Birmingham to the North West look to have been left without any work to do after today's decision to scrap the leg. HS2 awarded £300m of ground investigation work for HS2…

Mace is working on revised plans for HS2 Euston station that will “meet the budget”, according to its chief executive Mark Reynolds. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme this morning (27 September), Reynolds said the government decision in March to postpone work on HS2’s only central London station “came out…

Construction leaders have warned the government that scrapping phase 2 of High Speed 2 would have “serious implications” for the UK economy. Prime minister Rishi Sunak is widely expect to scrap or postpone the extension of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester amid concerns over the project’s cost. This morning (25…