PA
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said bus services are benefiting from the Government’s decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2, as he visited a depot in Harrogate.
Mr Sunak was speaking as he was shown around the latest electric buses on Monday morning, before speaking to apprentice bus drivers and engineers.
He said: “Every penny from HS2 in the North, almost £20 billion, is going to stay in the North.
“We’re here at a bus depot, which is benefiting from the £2 bus fare that we were able to put in place as a result of the reprioritisation.
“Local road schemes across the North, railway stations being reopened – those are the types of the projects I think people want us to invest in alongside road maintenance, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
Mr Sunak said the £2 bus fare cap was a direct result of his decision on HS2.
He said: “Talking to the team here, as a result of that policy, they’ve seen a 15 per cent increase in bus numbers in this area – I’m here in Harrogate, in North Yorkshire.
“That demonstrates that policy is working and the plans we’ve put in place are the right ones.”
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