There is only so long that you can prune the branches of a major infrastructure project. Now the government is – according to swiftly denied reports – considering hacking away at the roots of HS2.
Much has already faded from the grand vision that was first unveiled in 2009 and confirmed as effectively cross-party policy in 2012 – most notably the north-eastern leg of the original Y-shaped high-speed rail network linking London, Manchester and Leeds. But most of the cropping back to date has been lines on a map – not sites that have been worked on for years.
