Network Rail not consulted before plan to move £36bn to HS2 replacements

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UK ministers did not consult Network Rail before unveiling a £36bn set of proposed transport schemes to replace the northern leg of the HS2 high speed line.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak set out the “Network North” plan at the Conservative party conference this month as a replacement for building the second phase of HS2. The government billed it as the most ambitious plan ever drawn up for transport in the north of England.

But ministers did not speak to the public body responsible for rail infrastructure before Sunak’s announcement, according to several people familiar with the matter.

Network Rail owns and operates the UK rail network. It is responsible for upgrading current railway lines and the longer-term planning for shaping future investment decisions.

It is already working on a series of projects to improve connections in the north of England, including the multibillion-pound Transpennine Route Upgrade between Manchester and York.

In a written answer to a question posed in parliament by the opposition Labour party, rail minister Huw Merriman said that “following the announcement” of Network North on October 4, the government was talking to Network Rail “and our other delivery partners, to refine our plans”.

Sunak set out his transport plan as a replacement for the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2, after the project was plagued by delays and cost overruns. Questions over the future of the high-speed link dominated national political debate for several weeks prior to his announcement, which drew a backlash from business groups.

He said the decision to funnel future transport spending from HS2 into local schemes would “make a real difference across the nation” and better reflect voters’ priorities.

“This is the right way to spread growth and opportunity,” Sunak told his conference, stressing that half of the investment would be in northern England, which has historically suffered from poor transport links.

He added that HS2 was “the ultimate example” of an old consensus that no longer represented value for money.

Many of the replacement projects outlined as part of Network North were rail upgrades, including electrification schemes and the reopening of lines closed decades ago.

Parts of that plan began to unravel within hours, as it transpired a number of schemes had been published in error, some already existed and others had been promised previously but had never materialised.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh called the policy a “fantasy plan”.

“The public deserve better than this shambolic wishlist of half-baked plans,” she said. “Little wonder these botched proposals took 24 hours to fall apart, when they failed to even consult industry experts.”

Since Sunak announced the policy, the government has said it will need to sign off individual business cases put forward by all of the projects listed in Network North, raising concerns that some may never be built.

The government was contacted for comment.

Network Rail said: “We continue to work with the Department for Transport to refine future rail investment plans.”