LIVE: HS2 to Manchester to be scrapped, according to reports - latest updates

HS2 to Manchester is to be scrapped, according to reports. The northern leg will be shelved, media outlets have claimed today (Monday, October 2). No official announcement has been made.

It comes as the Conservative Party Conference is being held in Manchester. National news sites have suggested Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has now made the decision. If confirmed, it would come as a bitter blow to the north.

There have been weeks of speculation over the future of the project. According to earlier reports, ministers have been considering scaling back the plans due to concerns over spiralling costs and severe delays.

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The move, if confirmed, would mean the high speed railway line, which is already being built from London to Birmingham, does not reach Manchester as planned. Politicians and business leaders from across the north have said that cancelling the second phase of HS2 would also affect the Northern Powerhouse Rail plans.

Under the current plans, trains on the new east-to-west railway - which was supposed to connect Liverpool to Leeds via Manchester and Bradford, but has itself been scaled back - would share a line with HS2 in Manchester.

Government ministers have repeatedly refused to confirm whether HS2 will reach Manchester, amid spiralling costs said to be £100bn, when asked ahead of the Conservative's conference in the city.

Just six months ago, the government vowed HS2 - conceived in 2009 - would roll into Manchester, saying it would 'form the foundations for improved rail services in the north through the Northern Powerhouse'.

This is a breaking news