About HS2

HS2 is a new high speed railway linking up London, the Midlands, the North and Scotland serving over 25 stations including eight of Britain’s 10 largest cities and connecting around 30 million people.

HS2 is the UK’s flagship transport levelling up project. It is the biggest rail investment ever made in the North of England and is Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

The new high-speed line will run between the North West and the South East, stopping at Manchester, Birmingham and London with trains continuing on the existing network to Scotland and elsewhere.

HS2 will integrate with new lines and upgrades across Britain’s rail system to deliver faster travel to many towns and cities across Britain not directly on the HS2 route, including Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby.

170 miles of new high-speed line is already under construction between Crewe and London. In total, over 250 miles of new high-speed line is planned across the country, including:

HS2 Phase One (linking London, Birmingham and the West Midlands);

HS2 Phase 2a (extending the line to Crewe);

HS2 Phase 2b (completing the line to Manchester);

HS2 East (linking the West and East Midlands with services to Sheffield and Leeds);

and Northern Powerhouse Rail (with a high-speed link between Warrington and Yorkshire that relies on HS2 Phase 2b infrastructure).

HS2 will begin running between 2029 and 2033 when Phase One is complete and services will expand as new sections of the network are built.