HS2: Full speed ahead to Crewe and a new station solution for Leeds

The Government is to accelerate the construction of a high-speed rail line to Crewe in order to deliver the benefits of HS2 to the north of England more quickly. Andrew Forster summarises this and other important developments in the project, which were announced by the DfT last week

Andrew Forster

11 December 2015

Leeds: the new plan envisages HS2 services terminating in a station (coloured blue) abutting the city’s existing station (pink), creating a T-shaped arrangement

A high-speed rail line between the West Midlands and Crewe will be built and opened by 2027, just one year after the opening of the London-West Midlands line, under revised plans for the HS2 project just announced by the Government. Ministers have also signalled their intention to change the plans for the HS2 station in Leeds city centre, with the new proposals integrating the station with the city’s existing station.

The line to Crewe had previously been planned for delivery as...