The Government will not confirm whether HS2 will reach central London

The Government declined to confirm whether it has scrapped HS2’s central London terminus at Euston.

It was hinted last night that rising inflation has significantly altered plans for the Midlands and North high-speed rail project.

The Sun reported that HS2 may not reach Euston until 2038, or the central London end will be scrapped entirely and the line will end at Old Oak Common in west London instead.

However, a Department for Transport spokesman declined to confirm, saying: “The Government remains committed to delivering HS2 to Manchester, as confirmed in the Autumn statement.

“Not only will the project support tens of thousands of jobs, but it will also connect regions across the UK, improve the capacity of our railways and provide a greener way to travel.”

When HS2 ends in west London, commuters would be forced to complete their journeys to the center of the capital on the Elizabeth Line.

It was also suggested that the entire project could be delayed by two or five years.

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the government should prioritize a central terminus for the railway line.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think Manchester will still get its line, but my argument would be I care about what’s right for the whole of Britain.

“And indeed, even for the north of England, not going to Euston has a number of significant disadvantages.

“Because actually people in the north of England, people in Birmingham want access to central London – that’s what they currently have over the normal long-distance network.

“And so for conventional services we have access right into central London, just as Piccadilly station is right into central Manchester.

“These stations have to be centrally located.”

But Labor colleague Lord Berkeley, who was deputy chair of a government-mandated review of HS2 in 2019, called for the entire project to be scrapped.

“The alternative in the news this morning is to use Old Oak Common as the terminus, which with a little reconfiguration would work for half the number of trains desired, but it wouldn’t do much,” he said.

“There’s not enough space for that, so they couldn’t do it, except maybe with a shuttle service from Birmingham.

“What’s the point of building HS2 just to get to Birmingham?

“I think the whole thing should be canceled.”

He claimed the money was “much better spent improving the railway lines north, east and west than going to London a little quicker”.

The HS2 project has come under heavy criticism after repeated delays, environmental issues and rising costs.

In 2015 a budget of £55.7bn was set for the entire HS2, but in 2019 the target cost of the first phase was already £40.3bn.

The east leg to Leeds was scrapped at the end of 2021, and some accused then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson of “betraying the North”.

Leveling Up secretary Michael Gove proposed looking into the investment for HS2 late last year, but Chancellor Jeremy Hunt backed the project.

The project’s bosses also admitted last year that HS2 will be “many billions” over budget.

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