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Keir Starmer is set to announce plans to build a new railway line between Birmingham and Manchester, the Independent understands, just over two years after the HS2 expansion was scrapped.
Rishi Sunak cancelled building the high-speed network between the two cities in October 2023 in order to save money.
But now ministers are expected to set out plans as they confirm proposals for new and improved rail links across the North of England, as part of a scheme known as Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).
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The move is set to come three years after HS2 was cancelled (AFP/Getty)
The moves come as Labour tries to see off the threat of Nigel Farage’s Reform, with Sir Keir’s at risk of losing dozens of parliamentary seats across the north of England at the next general election.
Mr Farage’s deputy Richard Tice has said that a Reform government would axe any high-speed rail schemes earmarked for the north.
With Labour trailing Reform in the polls, the party hopes that delivering on issues like public services and infrastructure can help it woo disgruntled voters in constituencies across the area.
Sir Keir has promised people across Britain will feel “positive change” this year, amid growing questions over his premiership and speculation he will face a leadership challenge after difficult elections in May.
Before he became prime minister Sir Keir said he could not promise a Labour government would reverse the government’s decision to scrap HS2, despite calls for a pledge from Labour’s Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
His comments came after Mr Sunak was criticised by two former prime ministers, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, for cancelling the rail link north to Manchester.
And the National Audit Office warned that the scrapping of HS2 would cost £100m and take up to three years.
At the time, Mr Sunak said he had been forced to act when costs “doubled”, but insisted that the money saved would be spent improving rail and road links in England and Wales instead.
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Mr Sunak was criticised by two former prime ministers, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, for cancelling the rail link north to Manchester. (PA)
NPR was originally suggested by the then Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2014.
At that stage he said that he wanted to create highspeed rail links between the major cities across the North.
The plans have suffered from the chaos that affected the Tory governments in the later years of that decade and into the 2020s.