Liverpool offers £2bn to be included in HS2 network

Mayor says link is essential for chancellor’s ‘northern powerhouse’ vision and proposes city covers two thirds of cost to extend planned high-speed lineLiverpool has offered to pay £2bn towards the cost of HS2 if the government agrees to add a 20-mile stretch of track that would bring the city into the planned high-speed rail network. With the £55bn railway proposed to directly link Manchester and Leeds to Birmingham and London, Liverpool’s leaders fear the ci