Poll: Is the Government right to forge ahead with HS2?
The High Speed 2 rail link between London and the north is "ready to happen" and "going to happen," Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has insisted.
Mr Grayling assured people the Government is "not backing away" from the multi-million route, which will skirt to the east of the Shropshire border.
Anyone wanting to access it from the county will have to travel to Birmingham to use the service.
Mr Grayling reiterated the Government's support for the controversial project and said the UK had achieved a "great track record over the last 200 years".
This, he said, must continue, envisioning that the estimated £55.7 billion project would help create an Elizabethan age of British rail.
Mr Grayling told an HS2 conference in East London: "It is ready to happen, it is going to happen, and it's going to make a massive difference to our country.
"We will see it though to completion with the first trains running in the next decade."
Mr Grayling said it would be a "fantastic career opportunity", promising that it would support a further 100,000 jobs – 75 per cent of which would be outside London.
"We need HS2 now more than ever," he added.
The first phase of the railway is planned between London and Birmingham by 2026.
Mr Grayling announced £30 million of funding for improving road safety and £40 million to support communities affected by the line to the Midlands.
Asked if he felt the Government could deliver the project as promised amid the pressures of Brexit, Mr Grayling said: "We have got a good team, a good plan and a good track record.
"I am very confident that this is a project that will happen on time and on budget."
