HS2 construction due to start in the spring after Parliament gives phase one final backing

Construction will start on HS2 on schedule in the spring after the new railway completed over three years of parliamentary scrutiny, ministers said.

The Department for Transport declared that from 2026 tens of thousands of passengers will be using high-speed trains every day between London and Birmingham with services travelling onwards to Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow after the Commons voted 399 to 42 in favour of the Bill to build the project at its third and final reading.

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, the DfT said. David Higgins, chairman of HS2, said there was "a long journey ahead of us... to secure permission for phase two so the benefits are fully realised" and acknowledged the "sacrifices" made by communities along the line to enable "a 21st Century railway network to be built".