The HS2 railway line is prone to be prolonged to London Euston, the Transport Secretary has signalled.
Louise Haigh stated “it might make completely no sense” to have the high-speed route terminate at Outdated Oak Frequent in west London.
Her feedback come after work to develop Euston station to accommodate HS2 was halted by the earlier Conservative authorities final 12 months due to the mounting prices.
Haigh instructed BBC Radio 5Live a call on the place HS2 will finish could be “clear quickly”, with an announcement set to be made across the time of the Finances on 30 October.
At the moment, the plan to terminate at Outdated Oak Frequent would imply passengers travelling to central London must change trains.
However Haigh instructed the BBC on Tuesday: “It might make completely no sense to construct a £66bn excessive pace line between Outdated Oak Frequent and Birmingham.”
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak stated in October final 12 months, that extending HS2 from Outdated Oak Frequent to Euston, which is far nearer to London’s centre, would be reliant on private investment and save £6.5bn of taxpayer’s money.
It’s presently unclear how the present Labour authorities is planning to fund extending HS2 to Euston. The Division for Transport has not responded to additional questions from the BBC following Haigh’s feedback.
Nevertheless, in February, the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee launched a report stating it was “extremely sceptical” that the federal government would be capable of entice non-public funding on “the size and pace required” to make the extension to Euston as success.
Haigh stated: “Even underneath the earlier authorities’s chopped and altered and discredited plans for HS2 Euston was at all times going to be a part of the answer.”
HS2 was initially a Labour celebration dedication, introduced again in 2009, however since then, the challenge has been thwarted by ballooning prices and issues round its influence on communities.