Without HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester, there is a gap on the map - one Rishi Sunak will have to fill to the satisfaction of his MPs or face a potential parliamentary backlash.
When Rishi Sunak finally confirms his decision to scrap HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester, he is expected to announce that some or all of the money saved will be invested in alternative transport projects in the north.
The challenge for Mr Sunak is that his predecessor-but-one, Boris Johnson, has already pulled that trick, when he cancelled the eastern branch of HS2 from Birmingham to Leeds in 2022. Without the high-speed tunnel planned between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, Mr Sunak has a 13-mile, £15bn hole to fill - one that will eat up a large chunk of whatever he thinks he can save by marooning HS2 in Birmingham.
Enthusiastically backed by George Osborne, it would link the largest and richest cities of the north with the region's largest airport, and connect with high-speed rail to London.Under the Johnson-Shapps plan, that ambition was scaled back, with 40 miles of new high-speed track between Warrington and Huddersfield, including the planned HS2 stretch from Manchester Airport, accompanied by electrification of the existing Transpennine line.
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