16 Friday April 8 2022 | the times
News
A branch of HS2 that would connect
the high-speed line to the west coast
main line at Wigan is to be scrapped, Sir
Graham Brady has told constituents.
The chairman of the 1922 Committee
of backbench Tory MPs said that he
had received “categorical, verbal assur-
ances” from Grant Shapps, the trans-
port secretary, that plans for the Gol-
borne Link will be axed in the summer.
The Golborne Link would connect
the Crewe-Manchester section of HS
to the west coast route just south of
Wigan. It would cut through four miles
of Brady’s Altrincham & Sale West
IAIN WATTS/LIVERPOOL ECHOChesterfieldSheffieldHuddersfieldBradford
LEEDSCarlisleManchester
PiccadillyManchester
airportHS2 phase 2b
western legWarrington
CreweWiganLiverpoolGolborne
LinkHS2 western leg
Source: Department for TransportHS2 phase 2a
West Coast
main lineMainline link to HS
‘will not go ahead’
constituency and is included in the HS
bill, which is going through parliament.
Brady wrote in the letter: “I have
received categorical, verbal assurances
from the secretary of state that the
government will table an amendment
as part of the second reading of the bill.
This will remove the Golborne spur
from the legislation.
“This is expected to take place in the
summertime. The only reason that the
bill was introduced with the spur still in
place is that a revised environmental
impact assessment would have delayed
the introduction of legislation.”
The Golborne Link would enable
more services between London and
Glasgow by allowing trains to avoid a
congested section of the west coast
main line north of Crewe. The 400m
trains would split and join at Carlisle,
allowing them to serve Edinburgh and
Glasgow.
MPs in the area had criticised the
plans. Andy Carter, the Conservative
MP for Warrington South, said that he,
Brady and James Grundy, the Leigh
MP, had argued repeatedly for route
changes. He said: “I understand work is
under way to publish an alternative
route and I will certainly be supportive
of any government amendments.”
The Department for Transport said
that no decision had been made.
A government source said: “It is our
intention to deliver the right infrastruc-
ture for long-term benefits to the rail
network, the North and Scotland.”Ben Clatworthy
Transport Correspondent
Airlines told to pay for cancellations
Airlines must stop cancelling flights
at the last minute and promptly pay
compensation to disrupted passengers,
the regulator has warned in a rare
intervention.
The chief executive of the Civil
Aviation Authority (CAA), the airlines
watchdog, has written to UK-registered
airlines expressing his frustration
and concerns at the service that manytravellers have received in recent
days.
Richard Moriarty said that recent
“late-notice cancellations and excessive
delays at airports are not only distress-
ing for affected customers but also have
the potential to impact confidence
levels across the industry”.
Tour operators have expressed
concern that the disruption at airports
and with flights, if not rectified soon,
will hamper bookings for summer.Moriarty said that passengers should,
“as a minimum”, be given notice of
cancellations so they do not travel to
airports only to find their flight is no
longer operating. He said airlines must
pay compensation to passengers whose
flights are cancelled with less than 14
days’ notice and are not offered alter-
native travel within the required time.
The warning came as British Airways
cancelled another 74 flights yesterday
and easyJet 52.Ben ClatworthyGrand designs Racegoers warmed up for Ladies’ Day today at the Grand National Festival at Aintree Racing, pages 60-