New transport secretary Grayling says there will be "no backing away from HS2"

The new transport secretary Chris Grayling said over the weekend that he has "no plans to back away from the HS2 project," as he underlined how it is required because of the increase in capacity it would bring.

Grayling told BBC Radio 4 that existing lines such as the West Coast Main Line had seen "huge increases" in use and it was "limiting the capacity of services to places like Northampton and Milton Keynes". "It's always been a capacity project... we need a better transport system for the 21st Century". There had been speculation that the economic turmoil following the decision to leave the European Union and the appointment of free-market 'Brexiters' might doom major projects.

Less than two days in the job, he also said that the problems with Southern rail services were "top of my priority list". He would be having meetings about the franchise today, he said, hours after the rail minister resigned saying it "felt like a failure" that hundreds of services had been axed. But he refused to say whether or not he might take the franchise away from Govia Thameslink Railway. 

Grayling was also asked by the BBC about airport expansion. "I want to move rapidly with a decision on what happens over airport capacity. It is a decision that will be taken collectively by the Government. I am going to look at this very carefully in the coming weeks." He would not say which option for expansion he personally favoured because of his quasi-judicial role.