The route to 2033: From report to reality

IT WILL be nearly another year before the final decision on the location of the HS2 station in Leeds will be confirmed and then a further 17 years before the first train is scheduled to arrive.
“Much work remains to be done, not least on design and finalising the business case, but now I believe is the time to begin that work,” said Sir David Higgins, chairman of HS2 Ltd and author of the interim report on the redevelopment of Leeds station.
The Government has said it is “minded to agree” with Sir David’s recommendation for incorporating the HS2 platforms into an expanded, single-site railway station.
It plans to make a final decision next autumn, at the same time as confirming the route for phase two of the HS2 network. The Government would then bring forward a Bill in this Parliament that would pave the way for the second and final phase of development.
Phase one, London to Birmingham, is scheduled to be complete by 2026 and today the Government has cut the timetable for construction of the western spur as far as Crewe by six years, to 2027.
Construction would begin on the eastern spur to Leeds in 2026 and is scheduled to take seven years, so that the remaining parts of the network, including the line to Manchester, would be delivered by 2033.
The Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughin, today confirmed the cost of HS2 “has not changed since the Spending Review 2013”, with a budget of £55.7bn, in 2015 prices.

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