British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that he is abandoning the northern leg of the high-speed rail route and promised to use the savings to fund hundreds of other transport schemes.
Speaking during his Conservative party conference speech, Mr Sunak said the HS2 project from Birmingham to Manchester had been cancelled and instead promised to use the £36 billion (€41.5 billion) of savings to fund hundreds of other transport schemes.
He told the conference, taking place in Manchester, that the HS2 project's costs had "more than doubled".
He said: "I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction.
"So I am ending this long-running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place, we will reinvest every single penny, £36bn in hundreds of new transport projects in the north and the midlands, across the country.
"This means £36bn of investment in the project that will make a real difference across our nation."
However, Mr Sunak said that the line from Birmingham to Euston will be completed given how far along construction is.
He said: "Our plan will drive far more growth and opportunity here in the North than a faster train to London ever would.
"And given how far along construction is, we will complete the line from Birmingham to Euston and yes, HS2 trains will still run here to Manchester and journey times will be cut between Manchester, Birmingham, London by 30 minutes.
"And I say this to Andy Street, a man I have huge admiration and respect for, I know we have different views on HS2.
"But I also know we can work together to ensure a faster, stronger spine, quicker trains and more capacity between Birmingham and Manchester."
Mr Street, Tory mayor for the West Midlands, earlier said axing HS2 to Manchester would be "an incredible political gaffe" allowing opponents to accuse Mr Sunak of having decided to "shaft the north" while in Manchester.
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Other critics, including Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, warned those schemes would not be feasible without key parts of the infrastructure that would have formed HS2.
Labour's Mr Burnham told BBC's Newsnight: "Sometimes in politics, it's not just what you do, but it's the way that you do it.
"So announcing this decision in Manchester, I think just shows contempt for the place."
He added: "In effect, what they are deciding is that the north of England will have a smaller economy for the rest of this century as a result of this decision."
Mr Sunak had repeatedly ducked questions about scaling back HS2 despite northern leaders, businesses and former Tory leaders Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron all warning against the move.
New legislation on smoking
The legal age for buying tobacco should rise every year, Mr Sunak said as he announced new proposals to crack down on smoking.
He said more must be done to "try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place".
He told the Conservative party conference in Manchester that "a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette," under new legislation.
"If we are to do the right thing for our kids, we must try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place," he said.
"Because without a significant change thousands of children will start smoking in the coming years and have their lives cut short as a result."
He added: "I propose that in future we raise the smoking age by one year every year.
"That means a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that they and their generation can grow up smoke free."
