HS2 chief delays part of northern England rail link by four years

(Corrects headline and paragraph 1 to clarify that only a section of the railway line will be delayed by four years, not the whole project)

LONDON (Reuters) -A section of Britain's new high speed railway line, HS2, which hopes to connect London to northern England, will be delayed by at least four years, the company said on Wednesday.

This is the latest setback for a project that has been beset by cost overruns, missed deadlines and repeated changes in scope since it was approved in 2012.

Two years ago, its ballooning budget forced the previous government to cancel the northern half of the project between Birmingham and Manchester.

A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd told Reuters that construction on the 18-mile (30 km) section north of Birmingham would be postponed to prioritise completion of the main London–Birmingham route.

The link was designed to add capacity and help Britain catch up with other European countries which have extensive high speed tracks.

"We remain fully committed to completing the 18-mile stretch north of Birmingham," the spokesperson said.

Transport minister Heidi Alexander warned in June that the line would not open by 2033 as previously targeted, and said she expected to provide an update on costs and timing by the end of the year.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said the government was "calling time on spiralling costs and ineffective decisions" while remaining committed to delivering HS2 Phase 1 in full, including the 18-mile stretch.

The Labour government, elected last year, has pledged to complete the southern leg of HS2 but has not reinstated the northern extension.

The government has put speeding up planning processes to deliver new energy and transport projects at the heart of its growth agenda. It has backed expansion at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports.

($1 = 0.7451 pounds)

(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti;Editing by Catarina Demony)