More
inaccuracies
and
inconsistencies

in
the
Network
North
announcements
made
by
the
Prime
Minister
last
week
have
been
emerging,
following
the
axing
of
HS2
to
Crewe
and
Manchester


(writes
Sim
Harris).

Rishi
Sunak
told
the
Conservative
Party
conference
on
4
October
that
£36
billion
will
be
released
by
scrapping
Phases
2A
and
2B,
the
sections
north
of
Lichfield.
Instead,
the
funds
would
be
invested
in
other
transport
schemes.

He
said:
‘I
am
cancelling
the
rest
of
the
HS2
project.
And
in
its
place,
we
will
reinvest
every
single
penny,
£36
billion
pounds,
in
hundreds
of
new
transport
projects
in
the
North
and
the
Midlands,
and
across
the
country.

‘This
means
£36
billion
of
investment
in
the
projects
that
will
make
a
real
difference
across
our
nation.’

The
budget
for
HS2
Phases
2A
and
2B
would
have
been
spent
between
now
and
about
2040,
and
it
has
been
revealed
that
some
of
the
projects
now
listed
by
the
government
will
not
be
completed
until
well
into
the
2030s.

Many
of
the
schemes
are
not
‘new’.
They
have
been
listed
on
previous
occasions,
and
in
some
cases
have
been
completed,
such
as
Metrolink
to
Manchester
Airport
and
Nottingham
Express
Transit
to
Clifton
South.
Both
these
extensions
are
listed
by
the
government
as
being
funded
by
money
from
HS2,
but
were
actually
opened
as
long
as
nine
years
ago.

The
government
also
withdrew
its
initial
press
release
issued
on
4
October
and
replaced
it
with
a
revised
version
the
following
day. 

The
first
release
said:
‘The
Leamside
line,
closed
in
1964,
will
…
be
reopened.’,
but
the
rewritten
version
says:
‘The
North
East
will
receive
around
£1.2
billion
from
the
City
Regional
Sustainable
Transport
Settlement
(CRSTS)
2
budget,
plus
a
further
£0.7
billion
on
top
–
funded
from
HS2
…This
money
could
part
fund
the
reopening
of
the
Leamside
Line.’

In
another
revision,
the
first
announcement
promises
‘£100
million
in
funding
for
a
Mass
Transit
system:
to
revolutionise
travel
in
and
around
Bristol.’ 

In
the
second
there
is
no
reference
to
Bristol
as
such.
Instead,
it
says:
‘£100
million
in
funding
for
the
West
of
England
Combined
Authority’.
The
Authority’s
area
includes
Bristol,
but
it
now
appears
to
be
able
to
decide
how
to
spend
the
£100
million.

Labour
shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
said:
‘Their
back
of
a
fag
packet
plan
is
in
disarray,
and
this
shambles
shows
once
again
the
Conservatives
simply
aren’t
serious
about
delivering
for
the
North.

‘Only
after
13
years
of
failure
could
the
Conservatives
pledge
to
take
two
decades
to
deliver
projects
they’ve
already
promised.

‘These
are
promises
that
have
been
made
to
the
North
and
Midlands
countless
times
before
–
and
frankly
they’re
sick
and
tired
of
empty
promises
from
this
broken
Government.

‘The
truth
is,
catastrophic
Conservative
mismanagement
has
blown
a
hole
in
HS2
and
after
this
fiasco,
why
should
anyone
in
the
North
believe
they
can
deliver
anything
they
say?’