Whitehall officials had long dubbed the Eastern Spur the “slaughtered lamb” of the larger project, with engineers unable to control costs in a spiral.
The Golborne link was designed to separate from the main line at Hoo Green in Cheshire before reaching Manchester Airport.
It would then have passed through Warrington to connect to the west coast main line, which has tilting pendulum trains, just south of Wigan. HS2 trains would then continue along the existing line from the west coast to Scotland.
Rail engineer Gareth Dennis told the New Civil Engineer ahead of the government’s decision that removing the Golborne link would adversely affect west coast services.
He said: “The cancellation of the Golborne link is more than short-sighted. It is lame in the value of what is left of the British high-speed network.”
Stephenson insisted that HS2’s plans to run services in Scotland will not be “affected”.
In a statement to parliament yesterday afternoon, he said: “We will look at the potential of these alternatives to bring benefits to passengers as soon as possible, enabling improved services to Scotland from Manchester and Manchester Airport, as well as from from Birmingham and London. HS2 trains will continue to serve Wigan and Preston, as well as Lancaster, Cumbria and Scotland. “