The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, was quizzed in the Commons today over the HS2 rail project, with a Greater Manchester MP asking for a 'guarantee' the scheme would reach Manchester.
Graham Stringer, the Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, also asked whether the PM believes 'that investment should be taken from poorer areas in the north and given to the more affluent parts of Kent'. Mr Sunak, however, didn't directly answer the question or give any guarantee, instead referencing the Integrated Rail Plan.
The Government's latest cost estimate for Phase 2a of HS2, from the West Midlands to Crewe, is £5.2 billion-£7.2 billion at 2019 prices. The budget for Phase 2b, however, which should see the high-speed railway extended from Crewe to Manchester and from the West Midlands to the East Midlands, has not been confirmed.
The current HS2 Bill, meanwhile, sees the rail line emerge from the ground in Ardwick, Manchester, before travelling on a mile-long viaduct of up to 12 metres in height to reach a new surface station. In order to then connect up to Leeds, it will have to turn back on itself and leave Piccadilly on more viaducts across east Manchester towards Yorkshire.
Civic leaders here, however, want a below ground station and are preparing to lobby the Government on the issue.
Council bosses want to ensure HS2 is delivered in a way which maximises the expected benefits for Manchester, Greater Manchester and the North, including integrating the proposals for improved rail links across northern, known as Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).
Mr Stringer asked during Prime Minister's Questions today: "Will the PM join his Conservative predecessors in guaranteeing that the HS2 project reaches Manchester or does he still believe that investment should be taken from poorer areas in the north and given to the more affluent parts of Kent."
Mr Sunak said the Tory Government was investing 'record sums' in transport infrastructure across the country.
He said: "But especially in the north and midlands with a £96bn integrated rail plan which will improve journey times east to west across the north and connectively across east midlands. It's a record we are proud of and I will get on with delivering it."
A budget of £55.7 billion for the whole of HS2 was set in 2015.
Council bosses here initially welcomed plans for rail travel in the north under the Northern Powerhouse Rail proposals.
But the Government announced in the Autumn Statement last year that it would be scaling back on plans to build NPR in full and instead, go with 'core' plans set out in 2021's Integrated Rail Plan.
The plans for a new high-speed line through from Manchester to Leeds, and eventually spanning from Liverpool to Hull, were first scaled back in 2021 - by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson - to an upgrade of the existing line.
Liz Truss, who briefly succeeded him, then vowed to reverse that decision and at last year's Tory Party conference, pledged to build the project, estimated to cost around £40 billion, as originally envisaged, including a planned brand new stop in Bradford and a link with HS2. Her pledge, however, was overturned by Rishi Sunak.
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