London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

Rail industry groups outraged as HS2 Golborne link quietly scrapped

Rail industry groups outraged as HS2 Golborne link quietly scrapped

Local MPs opposed plan for 13-mile stretch of new track but industry says move is ‘hugely disappointing’
A £3bn branch of the High Speed 2 network designed to speed up rail journeys between London and Scotland has been quietly ditched by ministers, provoking outrage from rail industry groups.

The change was announced on Monday evening as the result of the confidence vote in Boris Johnson was being determined. Three leading industry bodies said the decision to scrap the Golborne link would create a bottleneck for trains and negatively affect passengers and freight.

The HS2 minister, Andrew Stephenson, said the decision followed reservations expressed by Sir Peter Hendy, the Network Rail chairman, whose union connectivity review said the link “does not resolve all of the identified issues” on the mainline between Scotland and Crewe.

The 13-mile stretch of new track would have carved through the Altrincham and Sale West constituency of Sir Graham Brady, the chair of the 1922 Committee, which ran Monday’s ballot of Conservative MPs.

It emerged earlier this year that the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, had given Brady “verbal assurances” that the link would be scrapped. The spur, allowing high-speed trains on the London-Manchester HS2 line to connect to the west coast mainline just south of Wigan, would have created more capacity and cut journey times to Glasgow.

However, MPs in the region, including a Labour MP as well as Brady and colleagues, have been campaigning for years to abolish the link, and the government had promised to consider alternatives. A HS2 bill published in February still included the link in the plans.

Ministers have yet to decide how to replace the link. Stephenson said: “It’s absolutely vital that we get this right from the outset. Removing this link is about ensuring that we’ve left no stone unturned when it comes to working with our Scottish counterparts to find a solution that will best serve the great people of Scotland.”

However, a spokesperson for the Railway Industry Association, the Rail Freight Group and the High Speed Rail Group said it was a “hugely disappointing” move “on a day when much political attention was focused elsewhere”, and would increase uncertainty for rail businesses and for people living along the line.

They said: “The link has been provided for in the budget for HS2 and is needed to allow adequate capacity on the national rail network to fulfil its vital function of handling the nation’s longer-distance movements of both passengers and freight. Without this connection, a bottleneck will be created north of Crewe on the west coast mainline, which in turn will negatively impact outcomes for passengers, decarbonisation and levelling up.”

The Department for Transport said the timing of the announcement had been planned in advance and the clash with the confidence vote was entirely coincidental.

The eastern leg of HS2 running to Leeds was axed last November in the government’s integrated rail plan.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
×