HS2

Government announces HS2 review, 'go or no-go' decision by year-end

21.08.19: The government is set to launch a review into the HS2 project, transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced. The review into the high-speed rail link will conclude a “go or no-go” decision by the end of the year, confirming, r...

Boris Johnson not looking to scrap HS2 despite £100bn cost

01.08.19: Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said despite estimates suggesting the HS2 high speed rail line will cost more than £100bn, he was not currently intending to scrap any major infrastructure projects. Having announced a review into HS2...

HS2 Director says on schedule to get Royal Assent 'by Christmas'

18.07.19: An HS2 Director told delegates at the innovative TransCityRail Midlands event at The Vox Conference Centre in Birmingham that the multi-billion transformation project was “on schedule to get Royal Assent for the 2A phase by Christmas.&rdqu...

Date set to cut HS2 Wendover bypass noise

18.07.19: Work to lay a ‘very low noise surface' along Wendover bypass is scheduled to start during August bank holiday week and is expected to take ten days. The £1.51 million scheme, funded by HS2 as mitigation for noise construction tr...

Keith Williams on the Rail Review: an update on progress

16.07.19: Keith Williams, independent Chair of the Rail Review, provided an update at a Northern Powerhouse Partnership event in Bradford today.   FULL SPEECH HIGHLIGHTS “I do want to talk about an issue that it is of immense imp...

Rail leaders respond as HS2 vote passes

16.07.19: Members of Parliament have pushed phase 2a of HS2 through the House of Commons with 263 votes in favour to only 17 against. The Phase 2a High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill, if passed through the House of Lords, will give the...

HS2 reveals design for driverless people mover in Birmingham

16.07.19: Designs for a new automated people mover in the West Midlands have been released by HS2. The driverless vehicle plans to be used to transport passenger between HS2’s new Interchange Station in Solihull and Birmingham Airport. Whe...

HSRIL warn scrapping HS2 could cost thousands of jobs

12.07.19: A significant report published yesterday claims that completing HS2 is essential for “smashing the UK’s north-south divide” and warns that scrapping the project could cost thousands of jobs. High Speed Rail Industry Leader...

Regional leaders call for HS2 to be completed all the way

21.06.19: HS2 must be completed all the way to the North and integrated with Northern Powerhouse Rail to achieve the maximum impact on rebalancing the UK’s economy, High Speed Rail Industry Leaders (HSRIL) said at the annual conference in Manchester...

Birmingham Moor Street vision embraces the future and celebrates the past

31.05.19: Maria Machancoses, director of Midlands Connect, looks forward to what the Birmingham Moor Street's redevelopment will mean for the region. Over the years, many of Birmingham’s beautiful, historic buildings have been lost to the bulld...

Northern leaders warn Treasury against scrapping under-fire HS2

23.05.19: Scrapping HS2 would be a “disaster” and would undermine Britain’s “national prosperity for decades to come,” more than 20 prominent local government leaders from the north and the midlands have warned. In a let...

Scrap HS2 and use its £56bn budget to fund 28 alternative projects, urges TPA

14.05.19: Scrapping the £56bn HS2 project could pave the way for 28 separate local infrastructure schemes to be funded instead with the case “getting stronger by the day” a new report from the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has claimed....

First leg of HS2 ‘passing the point of no return’ due to amount of money already invested, says NAO head

13.05.19: HS2 is on the “verge of passing the point of no return” and the amount of money spent would make scrapping the flagship project “very difficult,” the head of the government spending watchdog has said. Sir Amyas Morse...

Commission calls for £10bn transport investment in Glasgow rail schemes and city-wide metro network

30.04.19: A Glasgow City Council commission has called for a £10bn transport investment into rail schemes and a city-wide metro system. The report from the Glasgow Connectivity Commission puts forward a number of “bold, ambitious and tran...

MPs demand £39bn NPR commitment from government

29.04.19: A group of 80 MPs have written to chancellor Philip Hammond urging the government to commit to a £39bn down payment for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), and deliver the flagship project alongside HS2. Hammond last week said that the in...