Ministers say the £96bn integrated rail plan published on Thursday will deliver improvements quicker than original plans for the HS2 eastern leg and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
In a foreword to the plan, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, said it been “clear that the plans – first drawn up 11 years ago – had to change”, while Covid had “altered some of the assumptions on which these schemes were designed”.
But critics in the north and Midlands say it is a “rail betrayal” and a watered down version
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