The
Prime
Minister


has
refused
to
say
whether
HS2
will
still
be
built
north
of
Birmingham
to
Crewe
and
Manchester,
following
the
revelation
that
talks
have
been
held
with
the
Chancellor
over
the
past
few
days
about
reducing
the
scheme
still
further.
The
original
plan
has
already
lost
the
section
to
Leeds,
which
is
now
set
to
terminate
at
East
Midlands
Parkway,
while
work
on
the
new
high
speed
station
at
London
Euston
has
been
paused
for
at
least
the
next
two
years.
The
latest
uncertainty
has
dismayed
politicians
in
north
west
England.
The
Mayor
of
Greater
Manchester
Andy
Burnham
said:
‘Why
should
it
be
the
North
of
England
that
pays
the
price?
What
we
are
going
to
end
up
with
here
is
in
the
southern
half
of
the
country,
a
modern,
high-speed
rail
network,
and
the
northern
half
of
the
country
left
with
crumbling
Victorian
infrastructure.
That
won’t
level
us
up,
it
will
do
the
exact
opposite.
Let’s
have
an
honest
conversation
about
it.’
Work
is
continuing
on
the
line
between
Old
Oak
Common
in
west
London
and
Birmingham.
A
spokesman
for
the
Prime
Minister
would
not
be
drawn
on
the
fate
of
the
Manchester
line,
saying
only:
‘Spades
are
already
in
the
ground
on
our
HS2
programme
and
we’re
focused
on
delivering
it.’

Tramline
extended

Trams
will
start
running
to
Wolverhampton
station
on
Sunday.
West
Midlands
Metro
has
been
extended
from
its
original
Wolverhampton
terminus
at
St
George’s,
on
the
fringe
of
the
city
centre,
to
Piper’s
Row
and
on
to
the
city’s
recently
modernised
National
Rail
station.
The
new
services
will
provide
direct
interchanges
with
buses
as
well
as
trains.
The
development
has
been
led
by
Transport
for
West
Midlands,
part
of
the
West
Midlands
Combined
Authority,
working
with
construction
and
design
partner
Midland
Metro
Alliance,
operator
Midland
Metro
Ltd
and
the
City
of
Wolverhampton
Council.

Penalties
rise

Penalty
fares
are
increasing
on
Manchester
trams.
The
fare
for
travelling
without
a
ticket
or
pass
on
Metrolink
is
going
up
to
£120
from
24
September
as
part
of
continuing
efforts
to
combat
fraudulent
travel.
Transport
for
Greater
Manchester
said
tickets
would
be
checked
by
dozens
of
additional
Customer
Service
Representatives.

Airport
boost

Trains
will
start
running
every
15
minutes
to
Stansted
Airport
all
day
once
again
from
10
December,
when
new
timetables
start.
The
service
was
reduced
in
response
to
the
Covid
pandemic,
but
Greater
Anglia
had
already
restored
four
trains
an
hour
during
the
peaks.
This
frequency
will
now
continue
during
the
rest
of
the
day
and
also
at
weekends.
Greater
Anglia
said
passenger
numbers
at
London
Stansted
Airport
have
been
increasing.

Transpennine
MD

The
interim
managing
director
of
TransPennine
express
Chris
Jackson
has
been
confirmed
as
managing
director.
The
appointment
took
effect
yesterday.
He
had
been
in
charge
at
TPE
since
the
operator
was
nationalised
on
28
May. 

New
station

Network
Rail
has
awarded
the
second
of
two
contracts
to
build
the
new
station
for
the
Beaulieu
development
at
Chelmsford
to
J
Murphy
&
Sons
Ltd.
The
award
follows
an
agreement
between
Network
Rail
and
Essex
County
Council
to
complete
the
work.
The
£124
million
contract
includes
main
construction
on
behalf
of
Essex
County
Council
and
also
Chelmsford
City
Council.