Locals question future of HS2 link to the north

Some residents living on the section of HS2 that will connect it to the West Coast Mainline say they believe it will never be completed.

Work on the 18-mile stretch between Curdworth, Warwickshire, and Handsacre near Lichfield in Staffordshire, already on hold since 2023, has been delayed for a further four years.

HS2 Ltd said it was "absolutely committed" to building the section north of Birmingham.

But Simon Burgess, who lives in Whittington near Lichfield, said he was sceptical and wanted assurances that the landscape dug up to make way for the route would be put right if it that part of the scheme was dropped as "the whole landscape has been vandalised".

"Four years is a long time and governments change," he said.

"In all likelihood we will be under a new government and their priorities will change.

"I'm just concerned for the destruction that's taken place."

HS2's northern leg - between Birmingham and Manchester - and an eastern leg to East Midlands Parkway was cancelled by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in October 2023, due to huge costs and delays.

The Handsacre link will allow HS2 trains to run at a slower speed on the existing tracks of the West Coast Mainline to the north west and Scotland.

But work has been on hold since 2023 and, in October, HS2 Ltd said work would be delayed for a further four years, to prioritise the core high-speed route between Birmingham and London.

Karen Tatlow, from Lichfield, said: "Nobody round here has got any confidence whatsoever that this is ever going to be finished.

"If that's the case, we are just going to have engineering relics littered, strewn throughout the countryside and that's a legacy we do not want to live with."

Luke Nipen, from HS2 Ltd, said the Handsacre stretch was an important part of the route for getting trains up the country and some roadworks in that area were ongoing.

"We have been undertaking a lot of critical road improvement works whilst the majority of our resources currently [are] being deployed along the London to Birmingham part of the route, " he said.

"Bringing trains from London to Birmingham will unlock some of the regional potential first and then we will be able to focus on the tie-in at Handsacre."

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