HS2 will open on time in 2033, transport secretary vows

An artist's impression of how the new link will look

The government's controversial £56bn high-speed rail project HS2 will be completed on time, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has insisted.

He told MPs it was "unrealistic" to say the link between London and northern England would not open in 2033.

His statement came as he confirmed the route for the second phase of HS2 would go from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds.

Labour wants a guarantee HS2 will be delivered without delays and on budget.

The first phase of HS2 is due to open in December 2026, with trains travelling at high speed between London and Birmingham before continuing on the existing West Coast Main Line.

A second Y-shaped phase of HS2 will open in two stages.

• HS2 'has unrealistic timetable'

• High-speed rail's long journey

The line from Birmingham to Crewe will launch in 2027, with the remaining construction - which includes a spur taking HS2 to a new station at Manchester airport - due to finish six years later.

Speaking in the Commons, Mr Grayling said the project "has taken a long time to get to this point, will take more years than I would wish to complete but we need it to be completed".

"The idea that this is an unrealistic timetable to complete this project by 2033 seems to me to be a strange one."

He said HS2 would provide an "uplift" to the UK's transport system, adding: "By providing new routes for inter-city services, HS2 will free up space on our existing railways for new commuters, regional and freight services while also taking lorries off our roads."

But shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said: "The Department for Transport has a track record of being unable to complete works on time or on budget so there is an understandable concern that HS2 will not be delivered to budget or be on time."

Residents of the Shimmer estate in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, fear their homes could be demolished

The announcement of the second phase's route removes much of the uncertainty over the HS2 project, although a further decision over where to site Sheffield's station is expected next year.

Proposals to run trains to the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield have been shelved with ministers now suggesting that HS2 should run east of the city, with a separate spur to take passengers to the existing main station.

But communities along the proposed route are voicing strong objections to the plan, among them residents on the newly-built Shimmer housing estate in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, which could be demolished.

Mr Grayling said support and compensation would be available to those affected by the project, who can begin the process by contacting HS2 Ltd.

The Department for Transport says compensation will be calculated at 110% of the value their home would have had without any plans for HS2.

Anyone living within 60m of the route is entitled to compensation, although the DfT said that could be extended in certain circumstances and wasn't "a hard and fast rule".

Joe Rukin, from pressure group Stop HS2, said ministers were "trying to con the public" that the high-speed line was needed to boost rail capacity.

"The government have finally come clean in admitting 'freeing up capacity' means for many cities 'losing the trains you already have', as the HS2 business case demands £8.3bn worth of cuts to existing services," he said.