It is almost 14 years since the last Labour government announced plans to revolutionise rail travel in England with a new high-speed network. Despite gaining cross-party support and the endorsement of five prime ministers, from Gordon Brown to Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak looks poised to put the brakes on key sections of HS2 amid fears the final price tag could exceed £100bn. Here is long and winding timeline of this controversial project.
December 2009 Gordon Brown announces plans for a north-south high-speed rail network, promising to invest £20bn in railway infrastructure to address capacity constraints on the north-south rail links in England.
