Royal Assent for HS2 Crewe extension
PHASE 2a of the £88billion High Speed 2 (HS2) project cleared its final parliamentary hurdle on February 11, paving the way for construction of the West Midlands-Crewe extension.
A year after the initial Act of Parliament was passed, the HS2 Phase 2a: High Speed Rail (West Midlands to Crewe) Bill has been given Royal Assent, allowing
HS2 Ltd to begin preparatory works alongside Phase 1.
Construction north towards Crewe is expected to begin in 2024, earlier than originally planned, creating about 5,000 jobs.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, said: “Whatever your view of this project, HS2 is now a reality – heading north, creating jobs and building a brighter future for our country. This vital project is at the heart of the Government’s commitment to build back better from the pandemic, tackle the north-south divide, and drive growth across the country.”
The 36-mile 350kph railway will reduce Crewe-London journey times from 90 minutes to just 56 minutes, further accelerating services to the North West and Scotland and creating capacity at the southern end of the West Coast Main Line for more freight and regional passenger services.
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New infrastructure will include 17 viaducts, 65 bridges, 36 embankments, 26 cuttings and two tunnels, plus a permanent maintenance base employing 140 staff near Stone in Staffordshire. Crewe station will also be completely redeveloped to create a new interchange between high-speed, WCML and regional services, linking into HS2.
HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Thurston said: “As the first major railway built in the North [of England] for over 100 years, HS2 will spur massive economic growth for our towns and cities and help to level up the country.”
Tim Wood, Northern Powerhouse rail director at Transport for the North, said it was “brilliant news” and had been a long time coming.
Fears over the future of HS2’s eastern leg to the East Midlands and Yorkshire were heightened in February when it emerged that the Government ordered HS2 Ltd to modify its plans for the Euston terminus, reducing the number of high-speed platforms to reduce costs.
Cutting platform numbers from 11 to 10 would allow construction to take place in one phase, rather than two, but would also reduce operational flexibility and capacity of the terminus to handle Phase 2b services. Sources close to the project, however, insist this reduction (recommended by last year’s Oakervee Report), does not compromise the ability of the station to handle a full HS2 service of up to 16 trains per hour.
Concerns
Further concerns were raised on February 17 when the DfT instructed Transport for the North (TfN) to push back the unveiling of its business plan for the Northern Powerhouse Rail project, which was due to be published this month. TfN has been told to hold all NPR discussions in private until the Government has published its Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), expected next month.
The IRP will outline how HS2 can work with existing rail plans and Northern Powerhouse Rail to deliver the benefits of HS2 to the East Midlands, Yorkshire and beyond. However, many NPR supporters fear that the proposed high-speed and high-capacity network will be scaled back to a programme of incremental improvements to existing lines.