The Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has added to growing speculation over the future of the eastern leg of HS2, saying ministers will not “blindly follow” plans drawn up almost two decades ago. In an interview with the Financial Times, Shapps signaled that a major rethink of the high-speed rail project between Birmingham and Leeds could be in order. He told the paper, “We want to make sure we get trains to Leeds in a way that actually benefits people on the network and not blindly follow some plan invented 15 to 20 years ago which no longer benefits people.” Construction work on phase one of the high-speed rail project from London to Birmingham is ongoing. Phase 2a is planned to run from Birmingham to Crewe, and phase 2b from Crewe to Manchester, and from Birmingham to Leeds. But after the government-commissioned Oakervee Review warned last year that the final bill for …