Key projects scaled back in Government rail plan

But supporters of the £96 billion plan have hailed it as as a "huge vote of confidence" in the West Midlands.

Announcing the long-delayed integrated rail plan in the Commons, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it would mean faster journeys and increased capacity up to 10 years sooner than originally planned.

Critics including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was "levelling down, not levelling up" after some previously pledged key rail schemes were scaled back or scrapped.

Mr Shapps confirmed that the eastern leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Leeds would now grind to a halt at East Midlands Parkway, while a full high-speed east-west line linking Manchester to Leeds will not be built.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said extra high speed lines would take "decades to build" and would not deliver benefits to commuters quickly enough.

The plan has supported "in principal" the creation of the Midlands Rail Hub, although the Government has yet to commit funding to the £2bn project that aims to improve services across the wider region.

There was no mention of the electrification of the Birmingham to Shrewsbury line, which remains part of Network Rail's long-term plans but could take up to 20 years to come to fruition.

Further details on projects in the West Midlands – including the potential reversal of Beeching cuts such as the Wolverhampton to Walsall and Lichfield to Alrewas lines – are expected to be announced in the coming days in a new 'pipeline of work' report.

The plan also included £360 million for contactless ticketing, which will be brought in at 700 stations across the Midlands and north over the next three years.

Boris Johnson said the "monumental" plan for rail investment would be a huge benefit to passengers in places including the West Midlands.

"For the first time in the history of our country, you'll have a high speed link between Birmingham and Nottingham," the PM said, adding that it would shave 26 minutes off the journey time.

"These are massive, massive gains," he added.

Mr Johnson said: "We're not just digging huge swathes of new rail across virgin countryside through peaceful villages, which is what some of the critics say we should be doing more of.

"We're doing a bit of that, there's no doubt about it, we're building over 100 miles of high speed line.

"But we're also improving and upgrading commuter networks to shorten journey times between the East Midlands and the West Midlands, and across the whole north of the country."

The PM also refuted suggestions he had broken his promises on rail connections between Leeds and Manchester.

"We are doubling capacity between Manchester and Leeds. We're trebling capacity between Liverpool and Manchester," he said.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said the plan was a "huge vote of confidence" in the West Midlands and a "major step" towards his 2040 transport plan.

He said Government backing for the Midlands Rail Hub was a "big prize" for the region, bringing forward the "very real prospect" of greatly improved rail links and additional capacity.

Mr Street, a major supporter of HS2, played down the significance of the decision to scrap part of the line.

"While difficult decisions have had to be taken, we need to be realistic that the economic outlook for the country has changed and so a re-evaluation of the eastern leg makes perfect sense," he said.

"The new plan still delivers what is required for the West Midlands, putting us at the centre of the nation’s new rail network.

"With clarity provided today, it is now critical that we push on with the delivery of HS2 as fast as possible, getting diggers in the ground and people into work."

Midlands Connect chairman, Sir John Peace, welcomed ministerial commitment to the Midlands Rail Hub and said efforts now needed to be "redoubled" to move the project from planning to delivery.

He said: "These improvements will create space for millions more passenger seats on the railway every year and provide a step-change in connectivity to Birmingham Moor Street station, opening up access to HS2 for communities in Hereford, Worcester and Bristol via the new Curzon Street station being built next door.

“The Midlands Rail Hub will also increase capacity for rail freight, supporting our programme to create for over one million lorries’ worth of freight to be moved onto our railway every year."

He added that by giving the go ahead to HS2 from Crewe to Manchester, extra capacity would be released at stations such as Stafford and Stoke.

"This means the benefits of HS2 will be felt by hundreds of thousands of people across the Potteries and Staffordshire, including passengers that never set foot on a high-speed train," Sir John said.

Richard Blackmore, CBI Midlands Director, said the plan was a "significant investment" that will "go some way towards modernising our ageing rail networks and can be delivered at pace".

However, he said it was disappointing that some previously announced plans had been scaled back.

"Businesses across the Midlands and northern England will be justifiably disappointed to see the goalposts have moved at the eleventh hour, and concerned that some of the areas most sorely in need of development will lose out as a result of the scaled back plans," he said.

Former transport minister John Spellar, Labour MP for Warley, is one of a growing number of MPs calling for the entire HS2 project to be reevaluated and for a renewed focus on local commuter services.

He said he had was "very sceptical" about the benefits of HS2, which he said had "always been a solution looking for a problem".

Mr Spellar said "eye-watering sums of money" were being spent on a scheme that would mainly benefit business people travelling to London for meetings.

"There needs to be serious questions asked and a proper reevaluation of the whole project," he said.

"Just because they have spent a few billion that is no reason to go and spend another £100bn.

"The key thing the Government ought to be focusing on is commuter services in the north and the Midlands, which frankly are nothing like London and need to be urgently improved."

The plan has been criticised by the TSSA transport union, which has accused the Government of letting down people in the Midlands and the north.

Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary, said: “This is not levelling up, it’s levelling down.

"We should be making public transport more attractive.

"But there are fewer trains running, staff are already facing redundancies and now they’re saying the north will not be getting the improvements they promised."