HS2 a ‘shambles’, campaigners claim, while Tories are blamed for ‘reckless’ mismanagement

Transport secretary Louise Haigh has criticised the Conservatives’ management of HS2, in the wake of a report from the National Audit Office which warns that capacity between London and Manchester will be reduced rather than increased because the trains planned for HS2, which will continue north of Birmingham on the conventional network, may have fewer seats than the Pendolinos they will replace. The report says it may be necessary to encourage people ‘to travel at different times or to not travel by rail’, although it concedes ‘this may constrain economic growth’. The charity Campaign for Better Transport says HS2 has become ’a complete shambles’.