DfT creates High Speed North company

Rail

The DfT has established a new company, High Speed North, which could lead the promotion of HS2 Phase 2b and Northern Powerhouse Rail.

The company was registered with Companies House on 28 February and has one director Kamal Patel, the DfT’s head of corporate finance. A separate company, High Speed Northern Ltd, was registered on the same day. Patel is also its director.

Tobyn Hughes, managing director of Transport North East, said: “It is thought that High Speed North will likely cover HS2 Phase 2b and Northern Powerhouse Rail.”

Hughes said Transport for the North was aiming to produce a strategic outline business case for the whole of the Northern Powerhouse Rail network, along with a sequencing and phasing programme, in November.