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Failing Chris Grayling has sparked fury by admitting he may ditch the Northern half of HS2.

Mounting costs could see high speed trains grinding to a halt at Birmingham with planned extensions to Manchester and Leeds dumped.

The Government had committed to building the Northern extension.

But the Transport Secretary told a rail industry conference the second phase was “not in the bag” and the industry had to make the case.

He added: “It will be a fantastic railway, one of the best in Europe - but it still needs support if it is to definitely go to Leeds.”

The route from London to Birmingham is due to open to passengers in 2026.

Plans to extend it to Crewe are going through parliament while legislation to enable the line to be built to Manchester and Leeds is due to be tabled in 2020.

But the bill is set to rocket to more than £100billion.

Mr Grayling’s comments represent a major departure from the Government’s previous insistence that construction of the scheme would proceed as planned.

(Image: Handout)

Lib Dem Transport spokesperson Baroness Randerson said: “This is another line chalked up on Grayling’s CV of failure.

“If HS2 turns out to be just a way of making Birmingham a suburb of London because it can be reached in 30 minutes, it will have fundamentally distorted the purpose of the project.

“This Conservative Government are dragging prosperity from the North rather than increasing it.”

Mr Grayling’s comments were reported in New Civil Engineer, a trade magazine.

Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani told MPs in September that the entire project would be completed in 2033, including the planned stretch from Birmingham to Leeds.

She said: “We are committed to delivering to those timescales.”

She also insisted that HS2 would be “an enabler of economic growth by connecting our great cities and towns in the Midlands and the North, encouraging employers not to focus only on London and the South East.”