Home | High Speed Rail Consultation

In January 2012 the Transport Secretary announced her decision to go ahead with HS2. She gave details of the route for the first phase from London to the West Midlands and strategy for the HS2 “Y” network to Leeds and Manchester.

Her decision followed a public consultation on the national strategy for high speed rail and proposed London to West Midlands route, which ran from February to July 2011.

Construction of the London to West Midlands route is expected to begin around 2017. Before this, the Government has to obtain the necessary legal powers to build and operate the railway through a hybrid bill in Parliament. The bill will be deposited by the end of 2013, with a view to Royal Assent being granted in 2015.

Engagement

In preparation, HS2 Ltd will work closely with relevant organisations, local authorities and communities to develop the route. Together, we will identify potential impacts and explore the best opportunities to mitigate them. A key part of our engagement with individuals, organisations and other stakeholders will be through community forums, whose members will be representatives of communities from along the route.

Consultation

We will also be carrying out several formal consultation exercises, initially on discretionary compensation measures, the safeguarding zone and the draft Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Scope and Methodology. Later we will engage on the EIA process and consult on the draft Environmental Statement.

Whilst these are taking place, our work continues on developing proposals for the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds, plus Heathrow spur; which we will be consulting on in the future.

The Aarhus Convention

HS2 Ltd is committed to its legal duty in line with the government’s commitment to the Aarhus Convention that encourages greater participation of the public in governmental decision-making processes and to provide access to information.

You can find out more information on the Aarhus Convention at the following link:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/aarhus/