Call for rail plan clarity as HS2 deadline looms

The government needs to set out its intentions to address rail capacity issues north of Birmingham, an MP has said, as powers linked to building HS2 are due to expire shortly.

The legal powers for the original section of HS2 between Handsacre in the West Midlands and Crewe in Cheshire are set to expire in February.

Connor Naismith, the Labour MP for Crewe and Nantwich, said the deadline was an opportunity for him to urge the government to "set out clearly and publicly exactly what we're going to do".

The government said it would not reverse the cancellation of HS2 phase two but it recognised "the importance of strong connectivity" between Birmingham, Manchester and across the North.

Legal powers for HS2 to reach Crewe expire on 11 February 2026.

The previous government axed HS2 north of Birmingham in 2023 and last year the planning protection on the land between the Midlands and Crewe ended.

Naismith said he supported the government in its priority to deliver HS2 between London and Birmingham and said there had "clearly been failures of governance and failures of delivery" around the project to date.

"What they haven't done is set out their intentions for how you're going to address those capacity challenges north of Birmingham," he said.

Naismith said he would be willing to challenge the government, describing it as a "point of principle" for him.

"It's fundamental to my constituency," he said, "and if I think the government makes the wrong turn on this, then I will say so."

He added he was set to have meetings with ministers in the coming weeks.

The High Speed Rail Group, which represents companies in the industry, urged ministers to act.

"Allowing these land powers to lapse would lock in a permanent bottleneck north of Birmingham, the very problem HS2 was designed to solve, while making any future fix far more complex and significantly more expensive," a spokesperson said.

The Department for Transport said: "Following years of mismanagement, poor decisions and spiralling costs, the government has taken decisive action to reset HS2 and ensure the safe delivery of the line between Birmingham and London at the lowest reasonable cost.

"While we will not reverse the previous government's decision to cancel HS2 phase two, we recognise the importance of strong connectivity between Birmingham and Manchester and across the wider North.

"We will set out further plans to enhance rail links in the North in due course."

See more Cheshire stories from the BBC and follow BBC North West on X. For more local politics coverage, BBC Politics North West is on BBC One on Sunday at 10:00am and on BBC iPlayer.