(BUTTON) More HS2 This article is more than 3 years old Delayed HS2 second-phase route unveiled This article is more than 3 years old Seven major changes to high-speed rail network out for further consultation with opposition likely to rise in affected areas -- * Share via Email HS2 [ ] The government says it expects the £55bn scheme to be fully operational by 2033. Photograph: HS2/PA The preferred route for the second phase of HS2 has been published, setting out exactly where the government will build the high-speed rail network through the north of England – although a controversial decision on how to run the line to Sheffield has been delayed once -- immediately, including a premium on compulsory purchases and moving costs. HS2 route The government is committed to pressing ahead with the broad Y-shaped -- overcrowding and capacity problems. “HS2 is an ambitious and exciting project and the government is seizing the opportunity it offers to build a transport network fit for the 21st century; one that works for all and makes clear to the world that -- A proposed route was first published in 2013 for the northern half of HS2, but a review of the programme and debate over the location of stations, especially around Sheffield, means detailed plans have been delayed by almost two years. The revised proposal for Sheffield is expected to cost almost £1bn less than the original plan, although there has been no alteration to HS2’s overall £55.7bn budget. The bill to secure the first phase of building HS2, between London and Birmingham, is expected to pass through parliament this autumn, allowing work to start next year. South Yorkshire estate in the path of HS2 faces more uncertainty Read more -- There is widespread support for the second phase in northern cities, which have been keen to secure improved transport links. Much of the opposition to HS2 has so far been focused in the Chilterns, where construction will bring no benefit to those affected. -- Manchester, changing the route in Cheshire and Leicestershire, and no longer tunnelling under East Midlands airport. Letters were being hand-delivered by HS2 Ltd on Tuesday to people newly affected by the revised route, predominantly in Nottinghamshire, where the site of a station in Toton has also been adjusted. The government confirmed that a new HS2 station would be built next to Manchester Piccadilly, with a stop at Manchester airport. But questions remained over the airport station’s development, which the government -- those of others on the route. A further report detailing how HS2 will be integrated with the existing rail network and future plans for “northern powerhouse rail” - a name that now appears to have supplanted what was referred to as HS3, linking northern cities via the Pennines – is not due until next year. Campaigners warned that this would be crucial to HS2’s success. Ralph Smyth, head of infrastructure at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “HS2 will simply fail to live up to its promises if it is not integrated with wider upgrades to the rail network.” -- rather than faster journeys.” Penny Gaines, the chair of Stop HS2, said: “The government is proposing spending £56bn or more on a railway line most people don’t want and that won’t benefit the economies of the Midlands and the north. -- transport system without some impact on people.” HS2: the human cost of Britain’s most expensive ever rail project | Patrick Barkham Read more The government has said that HS2 would create about 25,000 jobs during construction, as well as 2,000 apprenticeships, and support wider economic growth equating to 100,000 jobs. -- is not only good news for rail workers, but for companies throughout the UK supply chain too. Britain’s steel workers stand ready to provide the steel needed for HS2 – all they need is for the government to commit to buying British.” But residents in the path of the network expressed fury and dismay. On the threatened Shimmer estate in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, homeowners demanded that HS2 bosses came in person to see what it would mean for them. -- Sandra Haith told the BBC the nearby village of Bramley was also affected. Around 70 houses were in the safeguarding area, which could be purchased for HS2. Her son’s home was not eligible for compensation, she said, but “there will be trains at the bottom of the garden, and no one will want to buy [the houses].” -- although parliament will not ratify those decisions until 2019. Topics * HS2 * Rail transport -- (BUTTON) Close [p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=HS2%2CRail+transport%2CTransp ort%2CUK+news%2CManchester%2CSheffield%2CBirmingham%2CGreater+Mancheste r%2CTransport+policy%2CPolitics]