The CEO of the Construction Equipment Association (CEA) has expressed concern after the UK government announced that the East Midlands-Leeds HS2 high-speed rail line will not be built.
The CEA’s Suneeta Johal said that the demise of Phase 2b of the HS2 project – the East Midlands-Leeds HS2 high-speed line – clouds the original vision of HS2 as a dynamic North/South link in line with the levelling up agenda.
She added: “The concern is whether the government will row back on other infrastructure ‘commitments’. A solid project pipeline is the lifeblood of our sector.”
The CEA response came after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced the government’s new Integrated Rail Plan to overhaul the HS2 project.
Shapps said that, under the original scheme, the HS2 track would not have reached the East Midlands or the North until the early 2040s and that a re-think had been needed to deliver the project’s objectives for the regions.
He added that there was a clear and very convincing case for considering HS2 as part of an integrated rail plan that should work alongside local, regional and national services, not just those travelling between the country’s biggest cities.
