Why a full HS2 line could still be built

A Y junction was the original shape of the line as envisaged in the first plans for a line from London to Birmingham that branched to Manchester and Leeds. The purpose of the original plan was practical — capacity and speed, but also strategic. The UK is a long, thin country that excels in the service sector, and connecting these sources of growth would lever in investment and create agglomeration effects that would help rebalance Britain’s lopsided economy,