With news of one of HS2’s subcontracted companies being reported to HMRC for alleged tax fraud, let’s have a look at the crisis and whether Manchester is missing out by not being included in the high speed rail plans anymore.
00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World, my name is Theo Heusenbet and it's the start of another lovely week here in Manchester.
00:06Today we're talking about transport, particularly HS2, the one-time planned high-speed railway that would see London connected effectively with the north of the country.
00:15Now initially proposed in 2009 by Labour, for a long time HS2 was the centre of the Conservative plan to level up the north of England.
00:22But the project went way over cost and before leaving power, the former government sold off plots of land along the proposed route to kill it off entirely beyond Birmingham, leaving Manchester as well as Leeds out of future plans.
00:34Now the whole project became a bit of a farce and it's not looking much better now, as the company building the HS2 line between London and Birmingham has reported one of its subcontractors to the tax authorities over alleged fraud.
00:45This comes after allegations have been made about how some of the construction workers on the tracks were paid.
00:49The first claims came out earlier this year, with HS2 Limited having conducted an investigation and responded with reporting the company in question, which is Balfour BT Vinci, BBV, to HMRC.
01:02So while HS2 continues to struggle, let's have a look at some of the movement that Manchester's had in the Transport Department since the project was taken away from the city.
01:10Earlier this month, the Chancellor announced an investment of £2.5 billion for Greater Manchester's transport links over the next seven years.
01:16It's set to see progress made towards modernising train and tram stations across the region, building better local transport links and seeing some progress also towards rail services coming under public control, much in the same way that the buses have in this region.
01:30So despite the massive disappointment that comes from it being more difficult to get to London, there is an argument that the failure of HS2 has actually put the region of Greater Manchester on a better footing for the future.
01:40That's all for now. Follow Manchester World for more. We hope to see you again soon.
