HS2 Bill - Royal Assent?

[Ironside]

The Commons Speaker has confirmed that the Queen has granted the HS2 Act Royal Assent. Just seen via Twitter.

Fantastic news hope they get building soon.

 

[KashmireHawker]

Announcement by the DfT has followed very swiftly after the Speaker's remarks - press release is following:

The Department for Transport: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/full-speed-ahead-as-hs2-gets-royal-assent

Full speed ahead as HS2 gets Royal Assent.

HS2 Bill gains Royal Assent paving way for new rail line that will increase capacity on our railways, connect the biggest cities, generating jobs and economic growth.

HS2 took a major step forward today (23 February 2017) as Britain’s new railway successfully completed over 3 years of Parliamentary scrutiny to receive Royal Assent.

Construction will now begin on schedule in the Spring. Today also sees the launch of schemes totalling £70 million for communities along the route between Birmingham and London.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

"Getting the go-ahead to start building HS2 is a massive boost to the UK’s future economic prosperity and a further clear signal that Britain is open for business.

HS2 will be the world’s most advanced passenger railway and the backbone of our rail network. Royal Assent is a major step towards significantly increasing capacity on our congested railways for both passengers and freight; improving connections between the biggest cities and regions; generating jobs, skills and economic growth and helping build an economy that works for all.

By investing in infrastructure the government is seizing the opportunity provided by leaving the EU to build a more global Britain. We will now press ahead with constructing the railway while continuing to ensure affected communities get appropriate support and are treated with fairness, compassion and respect."

HS2 will create around 25,000 jobs during construction as well as 2,000 apprenticeships. It will also support growth in the wider economy, worth an additional 100,000 jobs.

From 2026 tens of thousands of passengers will be using high speed trains every day between London and Birmingham; services will travel onwards to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan.

From 2033, the high speed network will go into the centres of Manchester and Leeds and services will go onwards to places such as Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh.

David Higgins, Chairman of HS2 comments:

"Achieving Royal Assent for Phase One of HS2 between Birmingham and London with such significant parliamentary support, is a monumental step in transforming rail travel in Britain. We have a long journey ahead of us to build the railway and secure permission for Phase Two to make sure that the full benefits of HS2 are realised. This journey will see businesses right along the route benefit from greater access to the skills, markets and professional services they need to succeed in today’s global market. It will directly create some 25,000 jobs as well as forcing the pace of innovation in the construction industry.

Throughout this process HS2 remains committed to mitigating the environmental impacts whilst continuing to engage with each individual community which is making sacrifices to enable a 21st century railway network to be built in Britain."

The High Speed Rail (London – West Midlands) hybrid Bill – essentially the planning application for HS2 – received overwhelming support from MPs. In the Bill’s third reading in the Commons MPs voted 399 to 42 in favour. In the Lords, the figures were 386 to 26 in support of the Bill passing.

The government has previously introduced a comprehensive package of compensation and assistance for those directly affected by HS2. Today sees the launch of schemes for communities along the route between Birmingham and London to access more than £70 million government funding.

These are:

• The Homeowner Payment (HOP) scheme. This is available to property owners in rural areas who live between 120 and 300 metres from the HS2 line wherever it is not in a deep tunnel. Eligible property owners can apply for £7,500, £15,000 or £22,500, depending on how close they live to the proposed line.
  
• Two funds, worth £40 million, are now open for bids: the Community and Environment Fund (CEF) and the Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF). The CEF will help enhance community facilities, improve access to the countryside and conserve the natural environment, while the BLEF will support local economies in areas where businesses may experience disruption from the construction of HS2. The CEF and BLEF together make up £40 million and will be allocated at a regional level: £15 million for the central area (Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Buckinghamshire Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Hertfordshire), £7.5 million for Greater London and £7.5 million for the West Midlands (Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry). The remaining £10 million will fund cross-border or route wide projects.

A further £30 million road safety fund will go towards local road safety schemes in areas not currently accustomed to construction traffic. This will help provide a legacy of improvements for areas adversely affected by Phase One traffic.

 

[miami]

9 years seems a painfully long time still, and having to wait a further 7 years for Manchester/Leeds seems intollerable. We should be opening HS5 in 2033.

 

[deltic]

9 years seems a painfully long time still, and having to wait a further 7 years for Manchester/Leeds seems intollerable. We should be opening HS5 in 2033.

roughly 1 year for demolitions and utility works, 6 years building, 1 year fitting out, 1 year testing - includes a lot of tunneling, viaducts and building 2 fairly complicated stations and 2 more straightforward ones - not unreasonable

 

[najaB]

roughly 1 year for demolitions and utility works, 6 years building, 1 year fitting out, 1 year testing - includes a lot of tunneling, viaducts and building 2 fairly complicated stations and 2 more straightforward ones - not unreasonable

It might be possible to reduce this by spending the same money but faster and increasing the number of simultaneous worksites. Other than that, as you said, reasonable.

 

[33Hz]

Don't forget it took the French 25 years to build the whole line from Paris to Marseille and roughly 40 to get to where they are today.

 

[miami]

It might be possible to reduce this by spending the same money but faster and increasing the number of simultaneous worksites. Other than that, as you said, reasonable.

I suspect that the problem comes from a lack of people/equipment to actually do more work in parallel. This isn't a 9 women can't make a baby in 1 month situation, with an unlimited supply of skilled labour and equipment you can build a 1000 mile railway at the same speed as a 10 mile railway. I guess the problem with phase 2 taking a further 7 years is the people/equipment needed for phase 2 is being used on phase 1?

Training people and getting equipment would be doable if we would commit to a major sustained building campaign, alas that's not going to happen

 

[najaB]

I suspect that the problem comes from a lack of people/equipment to actually do more work in parallel.

That's true. Though, since it's a new-build railway, a lot of what needs to be done is 'simple' earthworks so it shouldn't take too long to get people skilled up.

 

[ainsworth74]

I must admit I do feel that, if at all possible, we should be looking to complete to Manchester and Leeds by the end of the 2020s not in the early 2030s. Try and complete the whole HS2 project in 2028 say rather than 2033. Obviously this would require spending more money more quickly but I think we should be aiming to do so. Then we'd be looking to complete the link to Scotland and their High Speed route between Edinburgh and Glasgow by the mid 2030s.

But I understand that there maybe an element of it not being a case of throwing more money at the problem but simply that there aren't enough people to take advantage of all the money in the timescales you'd like!

 

[najaB]

Obviously this would require spending more money more quickly but I think we should be aiming to do so.

While the rate of spend will be higher, if anything it should be cost neutral or actually reduce overall spend since there's less time for inflation to affect costs.

 

[ainsworth74]

While the rate of spend will be higher, if anything it should be cost neutral or actually reduce overall spend since there's less time for inflation to affect costs.

Well yes but I doubt politicians see it that way. All they'll see is that we're spending £4bn this budget year rather than £2bn. I don't have enough faith in them to think about the long term advantages of spending more money now...

 

[YorkshireBear]

I must admit I do feel that, if at all possible, we should be looking to complete to Manchester and Leeds by the end of the 2020s not in the early 2030s. Try and complete the whole HS2 project in 2028 say rather than 2033. Obviously this would require spending more money more quickly but I think we should be aiming to do so. Then we'd be looking to complete the link to Scotland and their High Speed route between Edinburgh and Glasgow by the mid 2030s.

But I understand that there maybe an element of it not being a case of throwing more money at the problem but simply that there aren't enough people to take advantage of all the money in the timescales you'd like!

As of course we have found on electrification and resignalling projects.

 

[najaB]

I don't have enough faith in them to think about the long term advantages of spending more money now...

You're one step ahead of me - I don't have faith in them.

 

[Altfish]

I must admit I do feel that, if at all possible, we should be looking to complete to Manchester and Leeds by the end of the 2020s not in the early 2030s. Try and complete the whole HS2 project in 2028 say rather than 2033. Obviously this would require spending more money more quickly but I think we should be aiming to do so. Then we'd be looking to complete the link to Scotland and their High Speed route between Edinburgh and Glasgow by the mid 2030s.

But I understand that there maybe an element of it not being a case of throwing more money at the problem but simply that there aren't enough people to take advantage of all the money in the timescales you'd like!

There will be some skill shortages to achieve this. The best example is tunnellers. I suspect the plan will be to move Cross Rail people onto HS2 London's tunnels, then Cotswold's tunnels and then the very lengthy Manchester tunnel

 

[edwin_m]

For Phase 1 at least, I believe Euston is the "critical path" - enabling works there have already started but it will be one of the last bits to finish however quickly all the rest is done. So trying to accelerate Phase 1 might result in having to turn trains round at Old Oak for a while.

 

[The Planner]

I would argue OOC is more critical as if you don't get the box and station finished then you are not getting to Euston!

 

[Chester1]

I thought Higgins reported that phase 2 completion could be brought forward to 2030 if the government wanted?

 

[miami]

For Phase 1 at least, I believe Euston is the "critical path" - enabling works there have already started but it will be one of the last bits to finish however quickly all the rest is done. So trying to accelerate Phase 1 might result in having to turn trains round at Old Oak for a while.

Suits me - I'm all for terminating at OOC with links to the WCML/DC/WLL/NLL, Central Line, and of course Crossrail.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

For Phase 1 at least, I believe Euston is the "critical path" - enabling works there have already started but it will be one of the last bits to finish however quickly all the rest is done. So trying to accelerate Phase 1 might result in having to turn trains round at Old Oak for a while.

Poster seen today at Liverpool: Euston closed for HS2 enabling work, 26/27 August.
Oh goody - start of another decade of disruption on the WCML.
I think we may need a "construction" thread for HS2, now it has moved from the possible to the here and now.