HS2 is still technically on the table - could it actually come to the North now?

Just over a month after Rishi Sunak announced that HS2 would not be coming to Manchester, local leaders finally got some good news about the new high-speed rail line that was promised by previous Prime Ministers. The legislation which MPs needed to pass before the Northern leg of the new line could be built has not been thrown out of Parliament as some had feared would happen.

The HS2 Phase 2b bill that covers the Crewe to Manchester part of the project, has been carried over into the next parliamentary session which started with the King's Speech on Wednesday, November 7. But this does not mean Mr Sunak has changed his mind?

The government says that the move means ministers can consider their next steps and look at how this legislation could help deliver other rail infrastructure projects in the North. It comes after the Prime Minister promised that every penny of the £36bn saved from cancelling the second phase of HS2 would be spent on hundreds of other transport projects under the new Network North brand.

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Following the announcement, Northern leaders urged the government to protect the HS2 bill in Parliament. That's because scrapping the new line from Manchester Piccadilly to the airport which was planned as part of HS2 would affect other transport projects too.

This section of the HS2 line was also set to be used by new Northern Powerhouse Rail trains from Liverpool to Leeds via Manchester. Reacting to the news last week, Lord Jim O’Neill, who chairs business-led think tank Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said it was a 'huge relief' to see this legislation survive as dropping it would have delayed the