Seven major changes to high-speed rail network out for further consultation with opposition likely to rise in affected areas

The preferred route for the second phase of HS2 has been published, setting out exactly where the government will build the high-speed rail network through the north of England – although a controversial decision on how to run the line to Sheffield has been delayed once again.

Seven significant alterations to the original route are being put out for further consultation, with some likely to provoke outcry in affected areas.



The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, said he “felt desperately sorry” for those residents affected, who he said would be “treated with fairness, compassion and respect”. Compensation measures would apply immediately, including a premium on compulsory purchases and moving costs.

The government is committed to pressing ahead with the broad Y-shaped route to Leeds and Manchester, which it claims will provide up to three times as many intercity train seats as now and free more space on existing lines for commuter services.



Grayling said: “Our railways owe much to the Victorian engineers who pioneered them, but we cannot rest on their legacy when we face overcrowding and capacity problems.

“HS2 is an ambitious and exciting project and the government is seizing the opportunity it offers to build a transport network fit for the 21st century; one that works for all and makes clear to the world that Britain remains open for business.”

According to the Department for Transport, there will be almost 15,000 seats an hour on trains between London and the cities of Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, compared with 5,000 now.

A proposed route was first published in 2013 for the northern half of HS2, but a review of the programme and debate over the location of stations, especially around Sheffield, means detailed plans have been delayed by almost two years. The revised proposal for Sheffield is expected to cost almost £1bn less than the original plan, although there has been no alteration to HS2’s overall £55.7bn budget.

The bill to secure the first phase of building HS2, between London and Birmingham, is expected to pass through parliament this autumn, allowing work to start next year.

South Yorkshire estate in the path of HS2 faces more uncertainty Read more

Legislation for the rest of the route is expected to be introduced in 2019. A “phase 2a” would see the line built as far as Crewe for service in 2027.

There is widespread support for the second phase in northern cities, which have been keen to secure improved transport links. Much of the opposition to HS2 has so far been focused in the Chilterns, where construction will bring no benefit to those affected.

However, the publication of the detailed route could see new communities threatened. After a revision was made in July to the line’s path through the east Midlands, with a branch to Sheffield, residents on a new estate were told they faced the compulsory purchase of their homes for demolition.

Residents in more than 4,000 homes in rural areas along the second phase will now be eligible for compensation, while a total of 580 homes will be demolished in work north of Birmingham.

Among the seven changes to have gone out for further consultation are moving a new depot to Crewe, altering the site of a tunnel in southern Manchester, changing the route in Cheshire and Leicestershire, and no longer tunnelling under East Midlands airport. Letters were being hand-delivered by HS2 Ltd on Tuesday to people newly affected by the revised route, predominantly in Nottinghamshire, where the site of a station in Toton has also been adjusted.

The government confirmed that a new HS2 station would be built next to Manchester Piccadilly, with a stop at Manchester airport. But questions remained over the airport station’s development, which the government said would only be agreed with local funding. Manchester airport insisted that the station’s costs should be met in the same way as those of others on the route.

A further report detailing how HS2 will be integrated with the existing rail network and future plans for “northern powerhouse rail” - a name that now appears to have supplanted what was referred to as HS3, linking northern cities via the Pennines – is not due until next year.

Campaigners warned that this would be crucial to HS2’s success. Ralph Smyth, head of infrastructure at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “HS2 will simply fail to live up to its promises if it is not integrated with wider upgrades to the rail network.”

He added: “Parkway stations plonked in the green belt, like that proposed a mile away from Manchester airport, would create gridlock rather than faster journeys.”

Penny Gaines, the chair of Stop HS2, said: “The government is proposing spending £56bn or more on a railway line most people don’t want and that won’t benefit the economies of the Midlands and the north.



“Anywhere where there are gaps in the line is continued uncertainty for people affected. Phase two was announced in early 2013, and these people have been living in limbo for nearly four years.”

Grayling said the government had been clear about its preferred option for a branch to Sheffield city centre but its decision still needed to go through the proper consultation process. The revised route would see fewer home demolitions and save almost £1bn.

“Clearly we have to treat people in the right way. Of course if you are building a system that will transform the capacity of our transport system and create new opportunities for our freight trains and commuter services on our existing network, of course some people are going to be affected,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“We want to do the right thing by those people but of course it’s not possible to make the kind of investment we need in the future of our transport system without some impact on people.”

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The government has said that HS2 would create about 25,000 jobs during construction, as well as 2,000 apprenticeships, and support wider economic growth equating to 100,000 jobs.

The Trades Union Congress said it would be a “much-needed shot in the arm for the British economy”.



Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said: “Today’s announcement is not only good news for rail workers, but for companies throughout the UK supply chain too. Britain’s steel workers stand ready to provide the steel needed for HS2 – all they need is for the government to commit to buying British.”

But residents in the path of the network expressed fury and dismay. On the threatened Shimmer estate in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, homeowners demanded that HS2 bosses came in person to see what it would mean for them.

Russell Holmes, who lives on the estate, told the BBC: “It may be a new estate but it’s a proper community. For that to be destroyed is devastating. But the uncertainty, waiting until it happens, when you can actually put something in place to move, is horrible as well.”

Sandra Haith told the BBC the nearby village of Bramley was also affected. Around 70 houses were in the safeguarding area, which could be purchased for HS2. Her son’s home was not eligible for compensation, she said, but “there will be trains at the bottom of the garden, and no one will want to buy [the houses].”

The exact route will be decided next year after the consultations, although parliament will not ratify those decisions until 2019.