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High Speed 2 (HS2) is a high-speed railway which has been under construction in England since 2019. The line's planned route is between Handsacre, in southern Staffordshire, and London, with a branch to Birmingham. HS2 is to be Britain's second purpose-built high-speed railway after High Speed 1, which connects London to the Channel Tunnel. London and Birmingham are to be served directly by new high-speed track. Services to Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester are to use a mix of new high-speed track and the existing West Coast Main Line. The majority of the project is planned to be completed by 2033.
The new track is being built between London Euston and Handsacre, near Lichfield in southern Staffordshire, where a junction connects HS2 to the north-south West Coast Main Line. New stations are planned for Old Oak Common in northwest London, Birmingham Interchange, near Solihull, and Birmingham city centre. The trains are being designed to reach a maximum speed of 360 km/h (220 mph) when operating on HS2 track, dropping to 201 km/h (125 mph) on conventional track.
The length of the planned new line has been reduced substantially since the first announcement in 2013. The scheme was originally to split into eastern and western branches north of Birmingham Interchange. The eastern branch would have connected to the Midland Main Line at Clay Cross in Derbyshire and the East Coast Main Line south of York, with a branch to a terminus in Leeds. The western branch would have had connections to the West Coast Main Line at Crewe and south of Wigan, branching to a terminus in Manchester. Between November 2021 and October 2023 the project was progressively cut until only the London to Handsacre and Birmingham section remained.
The project has both supporters and opponents. Supporters of HS2 believe that the additional capacity provided will accommodate passenger numbers rising to pre-COVID-19 levels while driving a further modal shift to rail. Opponents believe that the project is neither environmentally nor financially sustainable.
- ^ a b "HS2 Phase One full business case". DfT. Archived from the original on 19 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "What is HS2". HS2. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2021.