Government finally gives its reasons why Manchester can't have underground HS2 station - unlike London

Rail bosses have explained why they won't be funding an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly as part of HS2 - claiming its '£5bn cost' and the disruption it would cause outweigh the benefit. Northern leaders have long-warned that an overground station will 'blight' a huge swathe of the city centre, damage the economy and limit future capacity on our congested rail network.

But in November, with the release of the Government's Integrated Rail Plan (IPR), it became clear that warnings from politicians and engineers alike had not been heeded when a preference was stated for a surface level 'turn back' station. And this week, they finally provided an explanation, with High Speed Rail director general Clive Maxwell claiming it would be too costly to go underground.

Mr Maxwell appeared before the Public Accounts Committee, where Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston Kate Green asked the panel to explain the analysis of the costs and benefits of the Manchester station.

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Mr Maxwell confirmed the station was 'intended as a surface station for High Speed 2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail'. He added: "The Department has looked very extensively, with HS2’s help, at what the alternatives were and at doing that underground. It would have meant digging a very large underground box and cavern to accommodate all those platforms, and that would have cost very large sums of money.

"It would also have led to huge amounts of disruption in central Manchester. I think the estimates we had were up to £5 billion extra for that station, so the Department, Ministers and the Government took the view that that was not the right thing to do, and that