A Government minister has revealed building a new underground HS2 station at Piccadilly could cost £5bn and described it as a 'crazy amount of money' - despite its potential to transform rail travel in the North.
Despite plans for London's HS2 'super hub' - the new Old Oak Common in West London which will be served by six underground tunnels - and the fact the capital's Crossrail line recently opened this year nearly four years late and £4bn over budget, Rail Minister Wendy Morton rejected calls for a similar proposal and expenditure in Manchester.
She said tunnelling would cause 'major city centre disruption', delay the opening of services into Manchester by 'more than seven years' and potentially lead to an extra 350,000 HGV journeys during construction.
