Sunak's HS2 Axe Blamed for Capacity Limits at Major UK Rail Stations

Rishi Sunak's decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 has drawn fierce industry condemnation, with critics calling it the "biggest and most damaging U-turn in the history of UK infrastructure" and warning it will create lasting capacity problems at major stations across the Midlands and north of England.

The government announced a replacement package called "Network North," promising to redirect £36bn into transport in the Midlands and north. Sunak, speaking at a podium bearing the slogan "Long-term decisions for the brighter future," argued that building phase one of HS2 would still allow high-speed trains to join the current West Coast Main Line and reduce journey times. An unnamed rail group flatly rejected that framing, warning the plan would "create a huge bottleneck" and reduce connections between the two regions.

John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, said the decision was "deeply disappointing." His assessment was direct: "HS2 was part of a long-term strategy with clear objectives to link up some of the country's largest cities. It had been planned for almost 15 years and under construction since 2017. It's not yet clear how the collection of schemes announced today will address the gap left behind by HS2."

The financial picture is complicated. Alongside the £36bn pledge, the government said £6.5bn would be saved, described as more than the current budget, and diverted into local transport projects outside London. But critics said the Network North plan included schemes already under way or where funding was already expected, alongside projects that Sunak himself had paused or cancelled while serving as chancellor or prime minister. Money earmarked for HS2 will now flow into road schemes that were frozen just six months ago.

At Euston, the station at the heart of HS2's London terminus, the consequences of the scaled-back ambition are concrete. Fewer platforms will be built than originally planned, directly limiting the services that can operate. The station scheme is set to be removed from HS2 Ltd, which the government attributed to "mismanagement," with private investors to be invited in on a model compared to the redevelopment of London's Battersea power station. Construction at Euston has not yet started, and a Public Accounts Committee report blamed government indecision for an escalating forecast budget of £4.8bn, a figure that accumulated after the Department for Transport ripped up original designs.

Businesses, according to reporting on the industry response, were unimpressed by the Network North announcement. The backlash reflects a broader anxiety that a project nearly 15 years in the making, and physically under construction since 2017, has been cut back at precisely the moment its long-term capacity benefits should have been locked in. The platform reductions at Euston make that loss tangible: fewer trains, not just fewer tracks.