HS2: Sir Graham Brady 'assured' link through constituency scrapped

A senior Tory backbencher has said he has been given "assurances" by the transport secretary that a planned HS2 link line will be scrapped.

The 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady confirmed Grant Shapps had told him the Golborne Link would be dropped.

The line would link HS2 with the West Coast Mainline through Sir Graham's Altrincham and Sale West constituency.

The Department For Transport said no decision had been made and it could not comment on a "private conversation".

The Guardian reported that Sir Graham had recently written to a constituent and told them Mr Shapps had given him "categorical verbal assurances" that the line, which is also known as the Golborne Spur, would be removed from the HS2 bill currently going through Parliament.

Sir Graham later confirmed his comments to the BBC.

The HS2 bill for the section between Crewe and Manchester was laid in Parliament on 24 January and included the Golborne Link, which would also pass through the Tatton, Makerfield, Leigh and Warrington North and South constituencies.

Andy Carter, the Conservative MP for Warrington South, said he, Sir Graham and Leigh MP James Grundy had repeatedly argued for route changes.

He said there were "better ways to connect Manchester with the North and Scotland than via the Golborne Spur".

"I understand work is under way to publish an alternative route and I will certainly be supportive of any Government amendments," he added.

HS2, which has been estimated to be costing between £72bn and £98bn, was originally meant to build high-speed rail links between London and Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.

Work is under way on phase one of the project, connecting London and Birmingham, and that part of the line is due to open by 2033.

A second phase will extend the line to Crewe, with the final phase, which will also pass through Sir Graham's constituency, taking HS2 to Manchester by 2040.