After they decimated ancient forests between London and Birmingham, they have no came to conclusion that they do not have value for money for the rest of it as if there was any value for money in the original proposal.
But what is really criminal is how they spent billions before they accepted reality when it was pointed out to them back in 2012 that the cost had more than doubled and it was no longer viable. They waited for the another 12 years and the cost has gone over 100 billion and now they are evaluating it and hinting they may not go beyond Birmingham.
Surely it would have been much more cost effective and less devastating to the environment to upgrade the current line. They could also have spent come money improving the connection between Yorkshire and Manchester which is actually an incredibly poor service.