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Work to link HS2 to west coast mainline delayed again
The Guardian
|October 23, 2025
Work to connect HS2 to the west coast mainline will be deferred for another four years as part of a “reset” of the troubled high-speed rail project.
The work between Birmingham and Handsacre in Staffordshire was halted in early 2023 by the previous government to limit spending on HS2.
The decision to extend the pause means cities in northern parts of the country will have a long wait for even the secondary benefits of HS2, after construction of the planned remaining leg of the railway north of Birmingham was scrapped in 2023.
This story is from the October 23, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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