HS2 Workforce Soars Despite Manchester Leg Cancellation

In some parallel universe, thousands of construction staff will be putting on their JCB work clothes every day and heading down to a site where progress is taking place on establishing the northern leg of HS2, whether laying tracks in Staffordshire, excavating a tunnel under Crewe town centre or constructing a new northern terminus at Manchester Piccadilly.

However, as we now know, such a prospect is now a broken dream, as are similar thoughts of the line travelling in a north-easterly direction from Birmingham to serve Sheffield and Leeds.

However, the impression that some may have of HS2 being a dead duck ignores the fact that work is happening on a larger scale than ever on the surviving stretch between London and Birmingham.

HS2 Ltd has announced that the number of people employed on the project has now reached a record high of 30,204, a rise of 455 during the July to September period.

The company said the main reason for the increase was the fact that civils work is now at its peak, with work including the installation of three bridges in the Midlands, the construction of one cut-and-cover tunnel and six more being cut out by huge underground boring machines.

Among the feathers in its cap HS2 is keen to highlight is the number of previously unemployed people working on the project, which presently amounts to 3,826, as well as the large tally of apprentices, with another 81 being added in the July-September period to take the running total to 1,380.

Commenting on the development, HE2 head of legacy Natalie Penrose said: “We made a cast iron commitment to ensuring HS2’s construction would support thousands of young people, and the unemployed, into meaningful careers.”

She added: “Three years into our heavy civils works, we’ve achieved just that.”

Whether the work of apprentices starting careers in construction or those of people who have years of experience, HS2 is clearly still providing loads of employment.

A question some may ask is whether the north will now miss out as cities like Manchester and Leeds will no longer be served by the high-speed tracks, not least in the provision of transport-related construction jobs.

Much will depend on the government making good on its promise that the money saved on the HS2 leg to Manchester will be invested into a number of other transport projects across the north.

Among the railway projects mooted will be high-speed lines for Northern Powerhouse Rail, the electrification of lines from Hull to Sheffield and Leeds as well as the Hope Valley line between Manchester and Sheffield and a new station for Bradford, which currently has two small, unconnected city centre stations that make it one of the most poorly connected cities.

Other rail projects are focused on different parts of the country, such as a ‘Midlands rail Hub’ and electrification of lines in north Wales.In his speech announcing the cancellation of the HS2 northern leg, Mr Sunak also spoke of Leeds having its own metro system, a much-needed step as it is the largest city in Europe without one. However, it is worth noting this has been pledged already, both in the Conservatives’ 2019 election manifesto and when the Leeds leg of HS2 was axed.