The UK government is set to formally scrap plans to extend the HS2 high-speed rail project from Birmingham to Manchester due to escalating costs.

According to multiple media reports in the UK, prime minister Rishi Sunak will announce the decision at the Conservative party conference later this week, which is ironically taking place in Manchester.

Clive Wratten, CEO of the Business Travel Association (BTA), condemned the decision, which he described as a “deplorable act of carelessness” from the UK government.

The first phase of the HS2 project is currently being built between West London and Birmingham and it had been planned for the second part of the high-speed line to carry on to Manchester.

But the project has been hit by numerous delays and a rapidly increasing budget, with the eastern leg of HS2 between the East Midlands and Leeds already being scrapped two years ago. 

The total cost of the scheme has recently been estimated at around £100 billion including the line to Manchester, compared with an original price tag of £33 billion 10 years ago.

BTA’s Wratten said: “Scrapping the Manchester to London leg of HS2 is a deplorable act of carelessness on behalf of the government. Cancelling the key northern hub makes a mockery of the levelling-up agenda.

“Once again, connected business travel across the UK is sacrificed by those in power negligent of the needs of those outside London.

“We are on the verge of a climate crisis. Car hire is 22 per cent up. Domestic air travel has increased. Rail is no longer the first choice. Continuous capacity challenges are forcing up costs, with service issues a consistent kick in the teeth to business travellers.”

HS2 services are due to commence between West London’s Old Oak Common station and Birmingham Curzon Street in 2033. A proposed link from Old Oak Common to Euston in central London is also in doubt.

Sunak and other ministers have refused to confirm that the Manchester section of HS2 would go ahead as planned in recent weeks, despite former UK leaders urging him to continue with the line to Manchester. Some of the money saved is likely to be spent on improving rail services in northern England.