Shell’s Dutch departure is a boost for the city of London

The scrapping of most of the eastern leg of HS2, originally planned from Birmingham to Leeds, is a news item that’s been waiting like a crowded train stuck at a vandalised signal while ministers squabbled over which cheaper substitutes might appease competing pockets of ‘red wall’ voters. Likewise the ‘Northern Power-house’ high-speed line from Manchester to Leeds, which is set to be replaced by a few more trains running a bit quicker on the existing scenic route. None of this merits the title ‘Integrated Rail Plan’ which it will carry when formally announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, rather than leaked in snippets. But ‘Cynical Rail Compromise’ wouldn’t have quite the same ring.

And given that the first aspirational high-speed national rail map of which so little survives was probably doomed as soon as it was mooted over a decade ago, we should be grateful for piecemeal upgrades that might actually be completed in our lifetimes.