The UK government has been slammed by opposition and local leaders in the north after announcing that parts of HS2 construction will be delayed by two years.
The Department for Transport (DFT) revealed yesterday that due to the rail project, once again, coming up against “soaring costs”, the construction of a number of HS2 sections are to be pushed back by another two years.
The delay will affect the north west section of HS2, from Birmingham to Crewe, and then from Crewe to us here in Manchester.
“We have seen significant inflationary pressure and increased project costs,” Transport Secretary Mark Harper said yesterday, “and so we will rephase construction by two years, with an aim to deliver high-speed services to Crewe and the North West as soon as possible after accounting for the delay in construction.”
HS2, which has the full name High Speed 2, was originally intended to connect London with Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds.
ADVERTISEMENT
The UK government has announced that parts of HS2 construction will be delayed by two years / Credit: HS2
The leg to Leeds has since been scrapped in November 2021, but work on the first phase of the project between London and Birmingham is now well under way, with a part of the line due to open by 2033, despite the fact the project has faced delays and mounting concerns over the exact route, and its potential environmental impact.
While a budget of £55.7 billion for the whole of HS2 was set in 2015, this was made before the Leeds leg was cancelled, and the estimated cost of HS2 was therefore set between £72 billion and £98 billion at 2019 prices.
ADVERTISEMENT
A report published last October found it was unlikely that the £40.3 billion target for the first section of the line would be met.
A senior figure at the DfT warned back in January that ”tough decisions” would lie ahead for the scheme.
And now, the government has confirmed it will be “prioritising HS2’s initial services” between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street in order to save money – which means the completion window for the first part of the scheme has now shifted from 2032 to 2036, while services will not extend to Manchester until the 2040s.
ADVERTISEMENT
The rail project is said to have been hit by “soaring costs” / Credit: HS2
Local leaders have previously said that the wrong HS2 solution for Greater Manchester could “damage” and have a wider impact on the north, an now the announcement of the two-year delays has seen the government be hit with even more backlash from opposition parties, and local authority figures across the North West.
Labour said the latest delay meant the North having to “pay the price” for government failures.
“Tens of thousands of jobs, and billions in economic growth are dependent on this project,” Shadow Transport Secretary, Louise Haigh, stated.
“The North is yet again being asked to pay the price for staggering Conservative failure. Conservative chaos and chronic indecision is holding back jobs, growth and costing the taxpayer. This is the biggest project in Europe and delays pile costs up in the long run.
“Ministers now need to come clean on precisely how much their indecision will cost taxpayers and the North.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Also responding to the “disappointing” delays annoucement, Lord McLoughlin, Chair of Transport for the North, said: “I was reassured by the Transport Secretary that we are still getting HS2 to Manchester, however, it needs to be understood whether or not these cost savings can be realised while still achieving the same desired outcome and conditional outputs.
In response to the #HS2 announcement by Secretary of State @Mark_J_Harper, our Chair @Patrick4Dales said we must transform the #North by building both HS2 and NPR in full.
— Transport for the North (@Transport4North) March 9, 2023
“The government needs to avoid being penny wise and pound foolish, as delays don’t necessarily lead to savings, and in fact can drive costs upwards.”
He added that HS2 must be delivered in full in order to “transform the North”, adding that the rail project, together with the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project, can “unlock the North’s economy from the existing position of poor infrastructure that has held it back.”
“It is the communities and businesses across the North of England who are suffering most by any delay or inaction in delivering the scheme,” he concluded.
Featured Image – HS2
News
Luxury Manchester gym Blok confirms permanent closure after weeks of uncertainty
Daisy Jackson
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure, weeks after the doors to the premium fitness facility mysteriously closed.
Around a fortnight ago, members began to arrive to their classes to find the gym on Ducie Street locked up and a forfeiture notice on the door – but at the time, Blok said that it was fighting to reopen.
Sadly, in an email sent to members today, its founder has confirmed that the studio is now permanently closed.
Blok – which has several very successful sites down in London – said that its relationship with its landlord has ‘broken down to a point where trust has been lost’.
The gym wrote that it’s been left with ‘no workable way forward’.
They said: “BLOK Manchester was a space built by our loyal and dedicated community. Whether you joined us for one class or one hundred, we are deeply grateful. You helped create something genuinely special in an incredible city.”
In the immediate future, they said they’ll be supporting the team of fantastic trainers who worked here, as well as looking after members.
Members will be contacted within a few hours with options and refunds owed.
Blok Manchester has announced its permanent closure. Credit: The Manc Group
CEO and founder Ed Stanbury said: “While this marks the end of a chapter, we don’t see it as the end of our story in Manchester. We’re already speaking with developers about potential future sites and remain committed to returning to the city when the time is right.
“Thank you for being part of our story so far. Let’s shape the future of wellness. The mission continues.”
Commenting on Blok’s Instagram post – its first in almost a fortnight – people have been sharing their sadness at the closure of its Manchester site.
One person wrote: “beautiful space, beautiful staff and beautiful community.”
Another said: “Sending love to all the instructors !! :(((( gutted”
Someone else commented: “THE BEST CLASSES. I’m gutted.”
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
10th March 2023 
