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Houses of Parliament at sunset.
Houses of Parliament at sunset.

HS2 in Parliament

High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Bill

In November 2013, the government deposited a hybrid Bill with Parliament titled ‘High Speed Rail (London to West Midlands) Bill’. The Bill grants the powers to construct Phase One of the HS2 network.

Read about the Bill securing Royal Assent on 23 February 2017 on GOV.UK

View the Phase One Hybrid Bill documents and the details about its progress through Parliament on GOV.UK

Undertakings and assurances

HS2 maintains a register of undertakings and assurances.Undertakings and assurances are commitments given by the Promoter (Secretary of State) during the passage of the Bill through Parliament. Thousands of Undertakings and Assurances were made to organisations and individuals along the HS2 route.

It records all the individual undertakings and assurances given to petitioners and to Parliament in a single document. This is to help ensure that the ‘nominated undertaker’ (any person appointed to construct HS2), the Secretary of State for Transport, or any other organisation exercising the powers provided by the Act complies with them throughout the project’s lifecycle.

The register includes:

  • all undertakings between petitioners and the Secretary of State for Transport
  • undertakings given in the High Speed Rail Bill (London to West Midlands) Parliamentary process
  • assurances given to petitioners in letters from HS2 Ltd, the Department for Transport or HS2 Parliamentary Agents (Winckworth Sherwood and Eversheds) on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport; and
  • assurances given in the HS2 information papers.

High Speed Rail (West Midlands to Crewe) Bill

In July 2017, the government introduced the High Speed Rail (West Midlands to Crewe) hybrid Bill into Parliament. This was the first step in getting permission to build this part of the route.

On 15 July 2019 the Bill received its Third Reading in the House of Commons, with 263 votes for and 17 votes against. The Bill received its First Reading in the House of Lords on 16 July. The House of Lords petitioning period ran from 17 July to 16 August, and a total of 35 petitions against the Bill were deposited.

Read about the Bill securing Royal Assent on 11 February 2021 on GOV.UK

View the Phase 2a Hybrid Bill documents and the details about its progress through Parliament on GOV.UK

High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill

In January 2022, the Government introduced the High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) hybrid Bill into Parliament.

Find out more about the Crewe to Manchester route.

View the Phase 2b: Crewe to Manchester Hybrid Bill documents and the details about its progress through Parliament on GOV.UK.

Further information

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