HS2 Phase 2a: High Speed Rail (West Midlands to Crewe) Act 2021
Documents and information relating to the HS2 hybrid Bill for Phase 2a of the project between the West Midlands and Crewe.
HS2 Phase Two is being delivered in 2 stages:
- HS2 Phase 2a (West Midlands to Crewe)
- HS2 Phase 2b (Crewe to Manchester, and the West Midlands to Leeds)
The Bill
On 17 July 2017, the government introduced the High Speed Rail (West Midlands to Crewe) Bill into Parliament. The hybrid Bill would authorise the next part of the HS2 railway network, known as Phase 2a. This will run between Fradley in the West Midlands and Crewe in Cheshire.
The Bill secured its Second Reading in the House of Commons on 30 January 2018, by 295 votes to 12.
Second Reading triggered a petitioning period during which those whose property or interests are specially and directly affected by the Bill could submit a petition, or objection, against it, and a Select Committee was appointed to hear those petitions.
On 23 March 2018 the government deposited an Additional Provision and Supplementary Environmental Statement to the Bill in Parliament. These provide additional environmental information and proposed amendments to the Bill.
On 24 May 2018 the Select Committee published a report announcing their first major decisions. On 25 June 2018, the government published its response to the Select Committee’s report.
On 23 July 2018 the Select Committee published their second report. On 13 November 2018, the government published its response to the Select Committee’s report.
On 8 February 2019 the government deposited a second Additional Provision (AP2) and Supplementary Environmental Statement (SES2) to the Bill in Parliament.
On 7 June 2019 the Select Committee published their third report. On 24 June 2019 the government published its response to the Select Committee’s report. The government also published a Command Paper setting out the government overview of the case for HS2 Phase 2a and its environmental impacts, in advance of the Bill receiving its Third Reading in the House of Commons.
On 15 July 2019 the Bill received its Third Reading in the House of Commons, by 263 votes to 17 votes. The Bill received its First Reading in the House of Lords on 16 July. The first reading triggered a further petitioning period.
The Bill received its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 9 September 2019.
The Bill was committed to a Select Committee to consider the petitions deposited against it and on 19 October 2020 the Select Committee published a report setting out their recommendations.
On 23 November 2020, the government published its response to the Select Committee’s report. On 24 November 2020, the government published a Command Paper setting out the government overview of the case for HS2 Phase 2a and its environmental impacts, in advance of the Bill receiving its Third Reading in the House of Lords. On 14 December 2020 the Bill received its Third Reading in the House of Lords.
The Bill secured Royal Assent on 11 February 2021 and is now the High Speed Rail (West Midlands – Crewe) Act 2021.
Further details relating to the bill and Select Committee can be found on the UK Parliament website.
The Act grants powers to:
- build and maintain HS2 and its associated works
- compulsorily acquire interests in the land required
- affect or change rights of way, including the stopping-up or diversion of highways and waterways (permanently or temporarily)
- modify infrastructure belonging to statutory undertakers (e.g. utility companies)
- carry out work on listed buildings and demolish buildings in conservation areas
- carry out protective works to buildings and third-party infrastructure
- make necessary changes to existing legislation to facilitate construction and operation of HS2
This is a large piece of legislation and is accompanied by around 140 documents totalling 12,000 pages. We recommend reading the guidance documents in each section first. For the Environmental Statement these include the guide and non-technical summary. For the Equality Impact Assessment these include the report summary and the easy read summary.
The route
This section contains information relating to the HS2 Phase 2a route and maps with detailed technical drawings of the areas affected. The video below provides an annotated fly-over of the Phase 2a route.
Property affected by the route
Environmental impact
The Phase 2a environmental statement documents include more information, such as the likely environmental impacts along the route and measures to manage and reduce them.
Our consultations, which closed on 30 September 2017, gave you a chance to tell us how work on the planned new railway from the West Midlands to Crewe will affect you. The results (once available) can be accessed below.
Construction and operation
Costs
HS2 policies
Getting the bill
Consultations
Past and present consultations in relation to Phase 2a of High Speed Two.
Supporting information
The documents listed below are not part of the hybrid bill but provide useful information and context for HS2 Phase 2a and the documents submitted as part of the hybrid bill.
Announcements
Updates to this page
Last updated 29 June 2021 + show all updates
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Added Government response to the consultation under section 60 of the High Speed Rail (West Midlands – Crewe) Act 2021.
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Added HS2 Phase 2a: High Speed Rail (West Midlands to Crewe) Act 2021 Schedule 17.
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Added 'HS2 Phase 2a: planning appeals guidance', 'High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021: government response' and 'High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Act 2021: class approval'.
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'The Bill' section updated to reflect Royal Asset of the Phase 2a bill.
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Added the consultation 'HS2 West Midlands to Crewe: environmental and traffic impacts, transport provisions and station improvement or creation'
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Added to The Bill - On 14 December the Bill received its Third Reading in the House of Lords.
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Updated 'The bill' section with latest progress
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Bill section text updated
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Update to Phase 2a bill progress
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Update on resumption of Select Committee hearings
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Update regarding Select Committee hearings
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Update to Phase 2a bill progress added
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Update under 'The Bill' section on progress of Phase 2a bill
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Update on progress of Phase 2a bill
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Update on progress of the bill added to 'The bill' section
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Update following 3rd reading in House of Commons.
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Links to response to 3rd select committee report and command paper added
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Consolidated plans, statement of reasons, government response to the Select Committee’s third report added.
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Update on Select Committee hearings
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Information relating to number of AP2 petitions added.
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Updated to reflect AP2 and SES2
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Link to government response to 2nd Select Committee report added
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Update following Select Committee decision.
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Updated 'The Bill' section to reflect latest progress
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Link to additional provision and supplementary environmental statement added
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Route fly-over video added
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Update relating to the Second Reading of the Bill
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First published.