High-Speed 2 (HS2) hybrid bill has secured Royal Assent after completing more than three years of Parliamentary scrutiny, leading the way for a new line to increase capacity on the UK’s railways.
Following approval, construction will now start and new schemes totalling £70m will also be launched for communities along the route between Birmingham and London.
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UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Royal Assent is a major step towards significantly increasing capacity on our congested railways for both passengers and freight; improving connections between the biggest cities and regions; generating jobs, skills and economic growth and helping build an economy that works for all.
“We will now press ahead with constructing the railway, while continuing to ensure affected communities get appropriate support and are treated with fairness, compassion and respect.”
At the time of construction, HS2 is expected to create around 25,000 jobs, in addition to 2,000 apprenticeships and support growth in the economy, worth an additional 100,000 positions.
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Scheduled to start in 2026, thousands of passengers will use high-speed trains every day between London and Birmingham. Services will travel onwards to locations such as Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan.
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By GlobalDataThe high-speed network will go into the centres of Manchester and Leeds from 2033, and services will start to Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
HS2 chairman David Higgins said: “Throughout this process HS2 remains committed to mitigating the environmental impacts whilst continuing to engage with each individual community, which is making sacrifices to enable a 21st century railway network to be built in Britain.”
Alstom UK & Ireland managing director Nick Crossfield said: “At Alstom, we live and breathe high speed rail and it is clear to us that HS2 is the most important investment in Britain’s railways for over 100 years.
“With the widest range of trains and infrastructure solutions on the market, Alstom stands ready to help make this brand new railway a reality.”
