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Starmer hints at backing for HS2 North replacement rail link

Sir Keir Starmer has given a major hint that he may be willing to back plans to build a replacement to HS2 rail link between Birmingham and Manchester.

The Prime Minister has said he is currently in discussions with the Mayors of Manchester and the West Midlands about pushing ahead with a feasibility study on the proposal to build a new, slower rail line between the UK’s second and third largest cities.

The two regional leaders believe a new rail line could be built more quickly and at a fraction of the cost compared to the original northern leg of HS2, which was cancelled last year by Rishi Sunak.

Asked by BBC West Midlands whether he backed the proposals, Starmer replied: “We’re going to look at it. I think it’s really good the two Mayor’s have got together in this way. I’m a great believer in local representatives coming up with plans for transport because they will better know what is necessary in their region.

“I’ve talked it through with them, we’ll look at it, because I want to make sure the transport in the region is the best it possibly can be because of the people that rely on it.”

When asked if a feasibility study should go ahead, the Prime Minister added: “We’re discussing it with them, what you’ve got is a government that wants to work with its mayors, this is a big gamechanger.”

The comments will be warmly welcomed by the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Authorities, which have been pushing for a new line to be built as part of their regional growth plans.

Last week, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and his West Midlands counterpart called on the Government to create a steering group to look into the fine detail of delivering a new 50m rail line using both public and private finance.

Mr Burnham told a press conference last week: “We’ve had brilliant engagement from the Government and everyone is saying exactly the same thing, we’ve all been waiting for this report.

“Now we’ve got it, with an incredibly pragmatic recommendation for a steering group, what possible reason could there be to not even have a steering group?”

A report produced by a private consortium pushing for a new rail line, said building a new link between the Midlands and the North West was critical to enhance capacity for passengers and freight moving between the regions.

In October last year, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a plan to extend HS2 between the West Midlands and Manchester amid spiralling costs.

The report did not provide an estimated cost of the new project, but said financing should be “maximised from the private sector”, with central and local governments “partnering to fund the balance”.

It stated that despite services being slower than if HS2 were built in full, journeys between London and Manchester would be only 15 minutes longer than under initial plans for the high-speed railway, which would still be 30 minutes quicker than today.

The consortium found the new line has the potential to deliver “roughly 85 per cent of the benefits of HS2 Phase 2” at 60-75 per cent of the cost.

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