The government has today published its bill for the first stage of the controversial High Speed 2 rail project.
The first part of the £42.6 billion rail line will run between London’s Euston station to Birmingham, which is due to open by 2026.
The Department for Transport has launched a ‘hybrid’ bill which acts as a planning application for the first phase of HS2 and, if passed by Parliament, will give the government powers to build and operate the new high-speed line.
Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “HS2 is the most ambitious and important infrastructure project in the UK since we built the M25 30 years ago, and in 30 more years it will be just as integral a part of the nation’s prosperity.
“The bill will give us the powers we need to get the railway built and start delivering the extra room on our railways that this country so desperately needs. It will also start the process of rebalancing the economy and bringing our great cities closer together.
“That is why the bill is so important – it marks the move from aspiration to delivery. Now is the time to be bold and ensure HS2 becomes a reality.”
The government said that when – and if – the bill is passed then construction on the line will start as early as 2016 or 2017. The DFT said HS2 would be the first new line built north of London for 120 years and was essential to ease congestion on other lines.
But opposition against HS2 has been hardening in recent months with organisations such as the Institute of Directors no longer backing the project.
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has also insisted there will be “no blank cheque” for the rail line.
Transport secretary McLoughlin is due to face MPs on the Transport Committee on Tuesday (November 26) to answer questions about HS2.
The government is also publishing an environmental statement on HS2’s first phase setting out its “likely significant environmental effects”.
“It will allow those on or near the line of route to see exactly how they will be affected and give details of the ways in which the railway has been designed to reduce as far as practicable impacts on the landscape,” said the DFT in a statement.