Grant Shapps gave private ‘assurance’ to top Tory about scrapping of £3bn HS2 branch from bill HS2 row A proposed £3bn branch of HS2 linking Crew and Manchester with the west coast may be scrapped, the transport secretary reportedly told a senior Tory MP. The government insists no decisions have been made about the Golborne Link element of the project, despite claims Grant Shapps privately promised the chair of the 1922 committee, Sir [...]
HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson ‘concerned’ about project’s rising costs HS2's money issues HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson said today he is concerned about the rate at which the railway project’s rising costs are soaring. Stephenson reported that HS2 had taken a further £500m between September 2021 and January 2022, in addition to the £5.6bn contingency funds. He added that the project’s “potential cost pressures” have gone up by [...]
HS2 unveils new London Euston designs HS2 Euston HS2 has unveiled new design for its London Euston station, seven years after they were originally shown to the public. The updated concept has turned Euston from an initial 11-platform station to a 10-platform and simpler one, which will be built in one phase instead of two. According to HS2’s Euston are client director Laurence [...]
HS2 opens huge factory to ramp up works on UK longest railway bridge February 9, 2022 HS2 has built a temporary factory larger than Royal Albert Hall to ramp up works on the Colne Valley viaduct. Long 100 metres and with an internal volume of 105,000m3, the factory will build the 140-tonne segments that will constitute the deck of the 2.3 mile viaduct, making it the UK’s longest railway bridge. “We’re [...]
HS2 trains to run on zero-carbon energy as part of green push January 11, 2022 HS2 trains are set to run on zero carbon energy from the first day of operations. The decision was part of HS2’s Net Zero Carbon Plan which, published today, sets out how HS2 Ltd intends to achieve carbon neutrality, reducing the project’s environmental impact to zero. “We know that the climate crisis demands urgent action [...]
HS2 rushes to purchase land for phase one opening January 9, 2022 HS2 is rushing to acquire several square kilometres of land needed to complete the project’s first phase. Out of the 70km2 needed to connect London to Birmingham, 13km2 are yet to be acquired, a freedom of information request put forward by the Telegraph has revealed. The land for the project can be forcibly bought by [...]
HS2 signs £2bn deal to create the UK’s fastest trains December 9, 2021 HS2 has signed a £2bn contract with manufacturers Hitachi and Alstom in a bid to produce the fastest trains ever seen in Britian.
Ministers postpone rail fare increase following HS2 cuts backlash December 2, 2021 A UK Government announcement regarding a 3.8 per cent increase in rail fares from March was postponed last week following the backlash caused by the slashing of rail investments in the north. Rail fares in England and Wales will see the biggest increase in nine years, the Guardian reported exclusively after seeing leaked documents. A [...]
Former Chancellor predicts PM will U-turn on HS2 cuts November 21, 2021 Former Chancellor George Osborne has predicted Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a U-turn on the government’s decision to cut HS2’s eastern leg. Talking to the Financial Times’ Payne’s Politics podcast, Osborne – who was Chancellor from 2010 to 2015 during David Cameron’s government – labelled the decision to scale back on HS2 as “pretty [...]
Railway industry says HS2 cuts will hinder net zero and levelling up agenda November 18, 2021 Railway industry stakeholders have hit back against the government’s decision to cut the eastern leg of HS2, which was initially planned to connect Birmingham and Leeds. Speaking at Commons, Shapps argued that the changes made to the £100bn Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) “will bring benefits at least a decade or more earlier” and that they [...]