New railway line linking two massive UK cities is set to be announced tomorrow
A NEW railway line linking two major cities in the UK is set to be announced tomorrow.
Train travel across the north of England could be smoother and faster in the future if the plans go ahead.
Ministers are expected to confirm proposals linking Manchester and Birmingham as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project, which is aimed at slashing travelling times and boosting local economies.
A plan to link the two cities as part of high-speed rail network HS2 was scrapped by the then prime minister Rishi Sunak in 2023 after costs ballooned.
Mr Sunak’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, had already scrapped plans for HS2 to extend to Leeds.
The original cost of the network was expected to be just more than £30bn but a leaked report later stated this could rise to more than £100bn.
The project initially planned to link London and Birmingham, with further legs reaching Leeds and Manchester separately.
HS2 is currently tens of billions of pounds over budget and around a decade behind schedule.
It has been reported that the now-shortened line between Birmingham and London could cost £81bn.
There is expected to be few details in tomorrow’s announcement, which means it could be decades before work starts.
HS2 has been mired in controversy ever since plans were first put forward by Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2014.
In 2024, MPs overseeing government spending were highly critical of the project.
