Transport for the North has welcomed the news that Royal Assent has been granted to the HS2 Phase 2a Bill (West Midlands to Crewe).
The announcement was made in both Houses of Parliament, a year after the Oakervee Review into HS2 recommended that the project go ahead.
HS2 will be the first new intercity railway built in the North of England for over 100 years and will help to level-up the country.
Tim Wood, Northern Powerhouse Rail Director at Transport for the North, said: “This is brilliant news. It has been a long time coming but HS2 has now been approved up to Crewe, which takes us to the doorstep of the North of England. The move will lock-in the creation of thousands of jobs in the years to come as we seek to build back better.
“It is essential now that the North gets certainty on the delivery of Phase 2b in full, on both sides of the Pennines, so that our communities are fully connected to the nation’s high-speed network. Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 are two parts of a whole and both are fundamental to the transformative change we need to release the North’s economic potential and cut carbon emissions.
“We look forward to the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan shortly, which needs to give certainty to both HS2 to Manchester and Leeds, and to the Northern Powerhouse Rail network.”
