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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Mark Brown North of England correspondent

George Osborne backs ‘HS2-lite’ plan for Manchester-Birmingham route

An early visualisation of an HS2 train. The HS2-lite proposal would allow trains to travel at a maximum of 186mph.
An early visualisation of an HS2 train. The HS2-lite proposal would allow trains to travel at a maximum of 186mph. Photograph: HS2/PA

The former Tory chancellor George Osborne has thrown his weight behind a proposal nicknamed “HS2-lite” that would deliver new high-speed train links between Manchester and Birmingham.

Osborne said the worst thing Rishi Sunak did as prime minister was cancelling the northern arm of HS2. “It was an act of infrastructure vandalism,” he said.

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