Labour won't reverse Rishi Sunak's decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 (Image: Getty)
Labour's plans for high-speed trains have been revealed in the King's Speech as Sir Keir Starmer's party pledged not to reverse Rishi Sunak's decision to cancel the second phase of HS2.
The northern section of HS2 connecting Birmingham and Manchester was cancelled in October 2023, meaning the planned railway will now only link London and Birmingham.
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Instead, the Government will table a High-Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill which includes powers to build and operate rail projects aimed at improving east-to-west connectivity across the north of England.
The Bill includes powers to build new rail infrastructure in the north, including new stations at Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport.
Sir Keir's government says the Bill meets demands from local leaders in the region, who want to close a productivity gap with competitors.
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Labour plans to improve connectivity between cities in the north of England (Image: Getty)
Northern cities are a key opportunity, but lack the scale required to compete globally as economies are more isolated because of geography, according to the Government.
It says cities in the north have a total population similar to Greater London (9.3 million vs 8.9 million), but their combined economy is about 50 percent smaller.？？ It says: "Joining our northern cities together is critical to growth."
Rail is identified as "the most effective, environmentally friendly way" to improve transport capacity and journey times between city centres.
Sir Keir's government says its plans for rail connections in the north could "dramatically" improve the experience of passengers with faster and more frequent services.
The King's Speech unveiled a raft of Bills the Government says will unlock growth and improve living standards for working people.
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The Bill includes a new station at Manchester Piccadilly (Image: Getty)
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New legislation will also be introduced to create a simplified rail system, bringing rail services into public ownership once their contracts expire or if operators fail to deliver on commitments. This approach will avoid the burden falling on taxpayers to cough up for compensation to operators for taking services into public ownership.
Transferring operations to the public sector will save the taxpayer millions of pounds currently paid out in fees to private operators each year, according to the Government.
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It promises to end the fragmentation of Britain's railways by establishing a more efficient and reliable rail service for passengers.
The government will also introduce legislation to establish a new public body, Great British Railways (GBR), which will be focused on improving services and creating better value for money for passengers.
With GBR, the fares and ticketing system will see simplified fares, discounts, and ticket types, under Labour's plans. Once established, the new body will also ensure ticketing innovations like automatic compensation, digital pay-as-you-go and digital season ticketing are rolled out across the whole network.
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