HS2: What is the route and why is the Manchester link scrapped?

The HS2 high-speed rail link between Birmingham and Manchester will be scrapped, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.

Another part of the route, between the East Midlands and Leeds, has already been cancelled.

Instead, £36bn funding will be put into alternative transport projects, Mr Sunak said.

HS2 was intended to create high-speed rail links between London and major cities in the Midlands and North of England.

That has been pared down to a high-speed link between Birmingham and London.

It is aimed at cutting journey times, creating more space on the rail network and more jobs outside London.

But HS2 has faced delays, spiralling costs and cuts.

HS2 was meant to connect London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

Lots of work has been done on the section linking London and Birmingham.

But the government scrapped the Leeds leg in 2021.

It decided to upgrade existing routes for HS2 trains, instead of building new ones.

In June, the government said it would still build HS2 from London Euston to Manchester and the East Midlands.

However, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said recently that costs were getting "totally out of control".

Now, the already-delayed Birmingham to Manchester leg has been cancelled.

The 13-mile (21km) Golborne Link to connect HS2 and the West Coast Main Line in Cheshire and Greater Manchester had already been scrapped.

Speaking at the Conservative party conference, Mr Sunak said the latest decision would save £36bn, which would be used instead in "hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, and across the country".

This will include road and rail schemes.

HS2 will now eventually run from London to Birmingham Interchange, with branches to central Birmingham and Handsacre, near Lichfield.

HS2 trains for Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland will join the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre.

The government previously said HS2 would cut Birmingham to London journey times from one hour 21 minutes, to 52 minutes.

Before the link was scrapped, HS2 was projected to take an hour off Manchester to London journeys - from just over two hours to just over one hour.

HS2 trains will still run to Manchester, and journey times will be cut between Manchester, Birmingham and London by up to 30 minutes, Mr Sunak said.

HS2 was originally meant to reach Euston in central London, although demolition work was paused due to rising costs.

The government said it would "get a grip" on plans for the station's "unaffordable designs".

It has already cut the number of planned platforms for high-speed trains from 11 to six.

But if cash is not put forward by private investors then the high-speed line will only run from Birmingham to Old Oak Common in London's western suburbs.

It is unclear whether the same capacity across the line will be needed now the HS2 line to Manchester has been discarded.

The cost of the project, the biggest of its kind in Europe, has grown.

The first estimate in 2010 was for about £33bn.

The government's most recent official estimate was about £71bn in 2019 prices. But this included £26bn for Birmingham to Manchester, which will now not be built.

The government is currently updating its cost estimates.

About £24.7bn had been spent on HS2 as of February 2023.

This includes at least £22.5bn on Phase 1 and £2.3bn on Phase 2, including on the purchase of more than 400 properties between Birmingham and Manchester.

HS2 was due to open by 2026.

Under current plans, HS2 trains would carry their first passengers between Old Oak Common and Birmingham, between 2029 and 2033.

Timescales for when Euston will open have yet to be announced.

The government has announced the "Network North" scheme, with £36bn redirected from HS2 to road and rail projects.

This will allow the objectives of the previous "Northern Powerhouse Rail" project to be met, it said.

"Network North" plans including upgraded and electrified lines between Manchester and Sheffield, Sheffield and Leeds, Sheffield and Hull, and Hull and Leeds.

In addition, there will be an extra £12bn set aside for faster links between Liverpool and Manchester.

A section of the HS2 line was due to run from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly, the city's main station.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham recently said scrapping the Manchester link "rips the heart" out of Northern Powerhouse Rail.

However, the government said Northern Powerhouse Rail, including high speed rail links, will be delivered "as previously planned".

Mr Sunak diverting money from HS2 to road schemes "shows how little he really cares about tackling air pollution, traffic and cutting carbon emissions", Greenpeace says.

Previously the HS2 project said it could provide "zero carbon rail travel" and create new wildlife habitats along its route.

But environmental campaigners and conservation organisations had objected, saying it would destroy irreplaceable natural habitats.