HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) - Government proposals, alternative routes, discussion

[whole diary]

[TonyN]

One Uy Hoang has captured, for Google Streetview, a glimpse of actual tangible HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) phase 2a embankment - from the towpath of the Staffs and Worcs Canal.

Mark

https://tinyurl.com/3vje36vw

Its actualy on the Trent and Mersey just south of Fradley Junction with the Coventry canal.
Passengers will be able to transfer from a temporary terminus to a narrowboat service to Manchester taking about 3 days. Fares will be cheaper if they work the locks.

[Mark A]

Thanks times two - for the my-bad location catch and also the intermodal reveal.

Mark

[Chris from Nailsea]

In the meantime, I have revised the heading of this topic, pending the result of a discussion among the admin / moderator team here on the Coffee Shop forum.

Democracy in action. CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Leamside Line agreement between Gateshead and County Durham signed 'subject to value for money'

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North East Mayor Kim McGuinness (left) and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander met in the region to sign the agreement

An agreement to reopen a regional rail line has been signed by the transport secretary, subject to the assurance that it delivers good value for money.

Further development work on the Leamside Line, which runs from Pelaw in Gateshead to Tursdale in County Durham, is set to progress as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR^▸ (Northern Powerhouse Rail)) initiative.

Regional politicians said the line could provide train links for 100,000 people in the north-east of England, after it closed to passengers in the 1960s.

The document stated the government would ensure resources were available for the Leamside Line reopening "subject to agreement of that business case and assurance that this delivers good value for money".

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander met Labour's North East Mayor Kim McGuinness on Thursday to progress the long-awaited proposal, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Funding was agreed in 2025 for a restoration of the northern section of the disused route as part of a new Washington loop of the Tyne and Wear Metro.

The document stated the government would work with the North East on the business case for the remainder of the proposed Leamside Line reopening, including considering better connectivity for Sunderland.

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A map showing the potential stations on the Leamside Line, including the planned Metro line to Washington

As well as allowing for new train services through Ferryhill, Sincliffe, Belmont, West Rainton and Penshaw, the route could also provide an alternative path for freight trains to free up more capacity on the congested East Coast Main Line between York and Newcastle.

The NPR scheme also includes plans to improve rail services from Durham, Darlington and Newcastle.

Alexander said: "We're giving the region the support it needs to unlock the full economic and social benefits for its people."

McGuinness added: "For the first time in decades, the new line will give communities a rail link which will be transformational for local people, in the same way the Northumberland Line has been for South East Northumberland."

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) trains could run slower than planned to save money

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HS2 high speed railway trains could be made to run slower than initially planned to keep costs down.

The government is to order the company building the project to consider lower speeds on the line from London to Birmingham, which has been hit by delays and cost overruns.

HS2's chief executive Mark Wild was expected to say this month the line would not be completed until after the current 2033 deadline and it would cost over £100bn in today's prices, but that announcement has now been delayed until after the May elections.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is said to be weighing up all options to claw back as much time and money for the taxpayer as possible. Among the options is a lower initial operating speed on the line.

HS2 has been designed to allow trains to run at up to 360km/h (224mph). Department for Transport sources point out that this is faster than any other conventional railway in the world.

Most high speed trains in this country run at up to 200km/h (125mph), while those on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel)) operate at up to 300km/h.

This means HS2 trains could not be tested at their intended operating speeds until a bespoke test track, or the railway itself is complete, something DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) sources claim would delay completion of the project by several years and cost billions of pounds.

The alternative, they say, would be to send trains to China to be tested on existing tracks there.

The government has been highly critical of decisions taken by previous administrations. Last year, the Transport Secretary described the scheme as "an appalling mess".

The Conservatives have been approached for comment.

Wild had previously worked as chief executive of Crossrail, the project that became London's Elizabeth Line. He was appointed as chief executive of HS2 under the previous government in May 2024 to oversee the completion of the railway.

Wild has spent more than a year working on a "reset" of the entire project which is meant to set out a realistic schedule and budget for delivering the line.

A number of major developments, including tunnels and bridges, have been built along the line but it is still years away from completion.

HS2 was originally envisaged as a high-speed railway that would connect London with Leeds and Manchester. However, the sections north of Birmingham were subsequently cancelled.

Under current plans, HS2 trains will travel from Birmingham to Manchester, but at reduced speed on the existing West Coast Main Line.

[TaplowGreen]

By way of a summary;

The Transport Secretary described the scheme as "an appalling mess".

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

'No estate agent will touch our Water Orton home due to HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s))'

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A total of 11 properties on Attleboro Lane have reported damage caused by HS2 construction

People living in a Warwickshire village on the path of HS2's railway line from London to Birmingham have described the "devastating" impact the project is having on their lives.

Linda Franklin and her husband Ed had planned to downsize their home in Water Orton once their three daughters had grown up but said, because of how close they live to the construction, "no estate agent will touch it".

The retired nurse, who lives on Attleboro Lane, claimed vibrations caused by heavy machinery had damaged their property: "It's destroyed our home, I'm embarrassed about home, it's falling apart."

HS2 said they engaged regularly with the local community and tried to minimise the local impact of the works. But 59-year-old Franklin said she had been "fobbed off" by the company.

The couple, who have lived at the property for 29 years, have cracks in their plaster, floor tiles, wall tiles and ceilings and have been quoted £7,000 for repairs. She said HS2 had acknowledged that it caused the damage, but only offered to pay half the cost when she submitted a claim. "I dread coming home, it's just destroying every part of it", she said.

When they have looked into selling their property, the feedback from estate agents was negative. "The minute they know where we are, they've said categorically because of HS2 they can't market it, nobody will put a mortgage on it, the only way we'll get a buyer is a cash buyer," Franklin said.

The couple are not prepared to sell their home below market value which means they are "stuck, we're just in limbo".

"On a good day it's frustrating, on a bad day it's devastating, I could cry", she said. The huge delays to the project have also added to her misery, she said, adding: "It feels like there's no end to it, there's no way out of it all."

Last year, the government confirmed the high-speed rail project would not be completed as planned by 2033.

HS2 said they acknowledged some people would experience effects as a result of construction and urged residents to continue to talk to local engagement teams.

(BBC article continues)

[Mark A]

By way of a summary;

The Transport Secretary described the scheme as "an appalling mess".

It's a bit of a giveaway on the direction that a nationalised railway might take that the present government didn't set to work to address the results of the cognitive dissonance on full display with the decision to unilaterally axe the Handsacre to Crewe leg of the thing.

The route's safeguarding was lifted in January 24 and the current government was elected in July of that year.

It's now been well aired that decisions taken since then now risk the likes of Manchester's train service seeing little acceleration in terms of end to end times and for good measure, fewer seats.

The current government really needed to reset the sense of ambition on this one - and it's something that would help them with one of their other tasks, which is to prevent the government that follows this one being of the sort that will cancel the entire project, no matter what is its state of completion when 2029 comes around. It has to be said that a cancelled HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) would leave a remarkable series of monuments across the south midlands, but in a way the land aquisition for HS2 phase 2a, pretty well complete, while less obvious on the ground, was in itself an achievement and an asset for the railway that the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) is going to need. Without it, users of the M6 and the West Coast Main Line can look forward to increasing disruption, congestion, costs and general underachievement.

Mark

[TaplowGreen]

Another massive overspend..........consistent at least I guess?

https://www.building.co.uk/news/hs2-admits-it-got-its-numbers-wrong-as-birmingham-train-depot-let-at-more-than-three-times-original-250m-budget/5142108.article

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) failings blamed on high-speed focus and political pressure

The HS2 rail line failed due in part to a focus on achieving the highest possible speeds and political pressure, a review is expected to find.

The scheme has been undergoing a "reset", and in March Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander asked HS2 bosses to look at lowering top speeds to save money.

This latest report into HS2, expected to be published this week, is authored by former National Security Adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove and has considered the implications for the civil service and public sector. Its findings are expected to agree with a previous review, external that HS2's so-called "original sins" included changing political priorities and ballooning costs.

The review is also expected to highlight the "gold-plating" of the high-speed concept, "resulting in [a] bespoke and highly engineered design".

In the coming days, Alexander is expected to confirm that trains won't start running by the current target date of 2033 and will also provide an updated price tag for the project. It has been widely expected that costs will exceed £100bn.

HS2's main purpose was to increase capacity on the rail network but it has suffered rising costs and delays.

Under the initial plans, first confirmed in 2012, the rail line would have run from London to Birmingham, and then on two separate lines to Leeds and Manchester.

However, in 2021, the government said it was cancelling the eastern leg going to Leeds. Two years later, the section between Manchester and Birmingham was also ditched.

In June 2025, Alexander said that after "a litany of failure" she was "drawing a line in the sand" and the government would get HS2 delivered.

Mark Wild, chief executive of the project's delivery company HS2 Ltd, was tasked with carrying out comprehensive "reset".

Earlier this year the transport secretary said she was "determined to explore every opportunity" to "bring down costs and delivery timetables" including reducing the top speeds of trains on the line.

HS2 had been designed to allow trains to run up to 360 km/h (224 mph), which would have made the line faster than any other conventional railway in the world. Most high-speed trains in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) run at around 220 km/h, while HS1^▸ (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel), the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, reaches speeds of up to 300 km/h.

Although it will be years before the railway opens, HS2 is in its peak construction phase. A number of key structures have been completed, for example the 10-mile tunnel under the Chilterns, and the Colne Valley viaduct.

As part of efforts to get the project back on track, HS2 Ltd has previously said it would slow or pause work such as the line towards Handsacre, so it could focus spend on areas which had fallen behind; notably the central section across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire.

[TaplowGreen]

Reads like an obituary.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) could cost up to £102.7bn and may not open until 2039, transport secretary Heidi Alexander says

(BBC coverage includes video clips and is being updated frequently)

Click on the link to the BBC to view the latest update of their developing news item.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

[TaplowGreen]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) could cost up to £102.7bn and may not open until 2039, transport secretary Heidi Alexander says

(BBC coverage includes video clips and is being updated frequently)

Click on the link to the BBC to view the latest update of their developing news item.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum).

Helps to put it into perspective - HS2 is now expected to cost more than NASA's Artemis moon mission!

(And there'll probably be men on Mars before it starts running into Euston if the BBC article is accurate!)

https://www.independent.co.uk/bulletin/news/hs2-slower-speeds-costs-heidi-alexander-b2979336.html

[IndustryInsider]

Helps to put it into perspective - HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) is now expected to cost more than NASA's Artemis moon mission!

...but will carry a few more passengers.

[TaplowGreen]

Helps to put it into perspective - HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) is now expected to cost more than NASA's Artemis moon mission!

...but will carry a few more passengers.

......over somewhat less distance!