North’s rail ‘betrayal’: HS2 set to run on existing track in shoestring plan for Yorkshire route - The Independent

Exclusive: Leeds to have new station and line but trains will slow down and move onto old network between South Yorkshire and Midlands.

The Independent has now learned that a new station in Leeds and a new line connecting the city to South Yorkshire are both likely to be given the go-ahead – but, from there, trains heading south will have to run on existing track for much of the way to Birmingham.

Instead, trains heading south will now leave Leeds via a new purpose-built HS2 line but will transfer to existing tracks in the village of Clayton on the border of the West and South Yorkshire counties.

It is understood the new Leeds to Clayton development survived the axe because it is fundamental to the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail – another new line that will eventually run east to west, connecting Leeds to Manchester.

While the new plans will allow Boris Johnson to say he is pressing ahead with an eastern leg of HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, the level of scaling back will be bitter pill for many to swallow?

The fact capacity will not be increased on at least a 60-mile section of the eastern line will mean the East Midlands could miss out on many of the economic benefits it had hoped the project would bring.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The integrated rail plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects, including HS2 phase 2b and other transformational projects such as Northern Powerhouse Rail, will work together to deliver the reliable train services that passengers across the north and Midlands need and deserve.”