To Do HS2

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16 November 2016 | Updated 01 January 1970

On Tuesday November 15, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling confirmed the majority of the preferred HS2 route from Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to Leeds.

He claimed this is a major step towards increasing capacity on the UK's congested railways for both passengers and freight and improving connections between the biggest cities and regions.

As the full network is completed, new HS2 trains will continue up the East and West Coast Main Lines, serving areas including: Stafford, Liverpool, Preston, Warrington, Wigan, Carlisle, Glasgow, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

On the western leg, HS2 will:

• Continue north from Crewe to Manchester Airport.

• Continue from Manchester Airport on to Manchester city centre, where a new HS2 station will be built next to Manchester Piccadilly

• There will also be a connection to Liverpool and to the existing West Coast main line allowing HS2 services to continue north, serving stations to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

On the eastern leg, HS2 will:

• Continue from the West Midlands to Toton in the East Midlands, where a new HS2 station will be built to serve Nottingham, Derby and the wider region.

• Continue north from the East Midlands to South Yorkshire.

• Serve Sheffield with a connection to the existing station with the main route be moved further east (a final decision to be made next year).

• From South Yorkshire, HS2 will continue to Leeds where a new HS2 station will be built in Leeds city centre, adjacent to the existing station.

• HS2 will also have a connection onto the East Coast Main Line, allowing HS2 to serve York, Newcastle and other places in the north-east.

There are 7 refinements on which the Department for Transport is consulting.

These are, on the western leg:

• To move the previously proposed rolling stock depot at Golborne to a site north of Crewe.

• To move the approach to Manchester Piccadilly up to 370 metres eastwards with the northern tunnel portal in Ardwick, to avoid direct impacts on residential properties and a school at West Gorton.

• To move the route in the Middlewich - Northwich area in Cheshire up to 800 metres westwards

On the eastern leg:

• To move the route to the east of Measham in Leicestershire, avoiding the most significant impacts on local manufacturing businesses and development sites.

• To go around instead of tunnel under East Midlands Airport.

• To amend the alignment of the preferred route as it passes through Long Eaton to reduce severance in the local community and reduce impacts on the highway network and existing rail infrastructure.

• To move the alignment of the route from Derbyshire to West Yorkshire to reflect a change in the proposals for serving the Sheffield city region, as recommended by Sir David Higgins in his report Sheffield and South Yorkshire published in July 2016.

The Department for Transport has also issued safeguarding directions for the preferred Phase 2b route which protects the preferred route from conflicting development and also means that those people who are most affected by the plans to build Phase 2b can now apply for the government to buy their home.

Chris Grayling said: “The full HS2 route will be a game-changer for the country that will slash journey times and perhaps most importantly give rail passengers on the existing network thousands of extra seats every day. They represent the greatest upgrade to our railway in living memory.

“But while it will bring significant benefits, I recognise the difficulties faced by communities along the route. They will be treated with fairness, compassion and respect and, as with Phase One, we intend to introduce further compensation which goes over and above what is required by law.”

The Transport Secretary has today also announced that HS2 Ltd has awarded a £900 million contract to:

Area South – CS JV (Costain Group Plc, Skanska Construction UK Ltd)

Area Central – Fusion JV (Morgan Sindall Plc, BAM Nuttall Ltd, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Ltd)

Area North – LM JV (Laing O’Rourke Construction Ltd, J Murphy & Sons Ltd).

As part of the HS2 Woodland Fund the Department has also made an initial allocation of £1 million to the Forestry Commission to support projects that will help restore, enhance and extend ancient woodland on private land or in partnership with multiple landowners.

Picture: The preferred route for HS2 north of Crewe has been unveiled

Article written by Brian Shillibeer | Published 16 November 2016

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