HS2

Regional leaders call for HS2 to be completed all the way

21.06.19: HS2 must be completed all the way to the North and integrated with Northern Powerhouse Rail to achieve the maximum impact on rebalancing the UK’s economy, High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL) said at the annual conference in Manchester...

Birmingham Moor Street vision embraces the future and celebrates the past

31.05.19: Maria Machancoses, director of Midlands Connect, looks forward to what the Birmingham Moor Street's redevelopment will mean for the region. Over the years, many of Birmingham’s beautiful, historic buildings have been lost to the bulld...

Northern leaders warn Treasury against scrapping under-fire HS2

23.05.19: Scrapping HS2 would be a “disaster” and would undermine Britain’s “national prosperity for decades to come,” more than 20 prominent local government leaders from the north and the midlands have warned. In a let...

Scrap HS2 and use its £56bn budget to fund 28 alternative projects, urges TPA

14.05.19: Scrapping the £56bn HS2 project could pave the way for 28 separate local infrastructure schemes to be funded instead with the case “getting stronger by the day” a new report from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has claimed....

First leg of HS2 ‘passing the point of no return’ due to amount of money already invested, says NAO head

13.05.19: HS2 is on the “verge of passing the point of no return” and the amount of money spent would make scrapping the flagship project “very difficult,” the head of the government spending watchdog has said. Sir Amyas Morse...

Commission calls for £10bn transport investment in Glasgow rail schemes and city-wide metro network

30.04.19: A Glasgow City Council commission has called for a £10bn transport investment into rail schemes and a city-wide metro system. The report from the Glasgow Connectivity Commission puts forward a number of “bold, ambitious and tran...

MPs demand £39bn NPR commitment from government

29.04.19: A group of 80 MPs have written to chancellor Philip Hammond urging the government to commit to a £39bn down payment for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), and deliver the flagship project alongside HS2. Hammond last week said that the in...

‘No justification’: Buckinghamshire councils demand government halt HS2 prep work until Notice to Proceed given

26.04.19: Councils across Buckinghamshire have agreed to pass a special motion calling on the government and HS2 to halt all current site work in the county. Aylesbury Vale and Chiltern district councils and Buckinghamshire County Council said they w...

HS2 ignored serious concerns with winning bid for £1.3bn Old Oak Common contract, claims Bechtel

25.04.19: HS2 Ltd accepted an “abnormally low” bid and ignored serious concerns over the chosen contractors to build a key station, the losing bidders for the £1.3bn Old Oak Common contract Bechtel claimed in a High Court claim. &nb...

HS2 workers win £1m in back pay after ‘underpayment scandal’

02.04.19: A HS2 contractor has agreed to back pay over £1m to hundreds of its construction workers after Unite claimed they were being “systematically denied” their entitled holiday and agreed overtime pay. Last week it was reported...

Funding sign-off for first half of HS2 construction delayed by ministers

01.04.19: Ministers have delayed signing off on the first half of funding for HS2 over concerns about the flagship rail project’s spiralling costs. A formal ‘notice to proceed’ on the major construction works for the first phase of...

‘Absolutely scandalous’: union claims HS2 workers denied holiday and overtime pay

29.03.19: Hundreds of staff working on the London Euston station for HS2 are being “systematically denied” their entitled holiday and agreed overtime pay, according to Unite union. Unite said it had received multiple payslips from employe...

Carillion-bound boss appointed to lead Kier

20.03.19: Kier has appointed Andrew Davies as its new chief executive, two months after the building contractor ousted Hayden Mursell on the back of debt issues. Davies had been appointed to lead the British outsourcing giant Carillion, but it became...

Plans revealed for major redevelopment of Birmingham Moor Street station

19.03.19: Birmingham Moor Street station it set to undergo a major transformation to prepare it for HS2 services at Curzon Street and growing passenger demand as new designs are unveiled. Moor Street could be expanded to double its current size and s...

HS2: Cutting through Cumbria

12.03.19: Cumbria Chamber of Commerce is arguing for HS2 services from London to call at Carlisle, Oxenholme and Penrith. The chamber’s policy lead, Julian Whittle, explains why. It came as a huge shock to businesses in Cumbria to learn that HS...