Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to avoid damaging the 63 ancient woodlands that lie on the proposed route of HS2.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
HS2 Ltd has sought to avoid ancient woodland wherever practicable and to strike the right balance between the effects on people, the natural environment, engineering requirements and cost. Substantial woodland planting measures are included in our plans on Phase 1 which have been arranged to link neighbouring woodlands and support greater habitat creation. Ancient woodland soils, containing their seeds, spores and bulbs, will be translocated to new woodland creation sites.
The effects on ancient woodland will continue to be reviewed through the detailed design on Phase 1 and will be further supported by an additional £5 million Woodland Fund in addition to HS2’s main landscape and habitat creation programme. An independent Ecology Review Group, members of which include Natural England, local authorities, nature conservation NGOs such as the wildlife and woodland trusts will have regular access to the monitoring outputs from habitat creation sites and will be invited to comment on progress and the requirement for any remedial action. For locations where it is intended to use ancient woodland soils for new woodland planting, monitoring will be undertaken over a 50-year establishment period.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the likely cost of tickets for travel on HS2 between London Euston and Manchester.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The case for HS2 assumes that existing fares policy applies to passengers travelling on HS2 services.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of estimates that over 60,000 bodies will need to be exhumed from St James Gardens, Camden, to facilitate the building of HS2.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
All human remains affected by Phase One of HS2 will be afforded due dignity, care and respect.
The St James’s Gardens burial ground was assessed as part of the environmental impact assessment for the project. Information was presented in the Environmental Statement that was submitted to Parliament in support the passage of the Bill through the House of Commons and House of Lords Select committees respectively.
Since then, further research has been undertaken into the history and development of the St. James’s burial ground to inform the development of design. Archival material relating to the burial ground includes burial records, plans of the layout of the ground, land transfer agreements, newspapers and letters.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of disruption to existing passenger services during the construction of HS2.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The design of HS2 has sought to minimise disruption to the conventional rail network during construction. While the majority of construction works will not affect the existing railway, ‘possessions’ will be needed so that works on or near the existing railway can be done safely.
As many as possible of these works will be undertaken at night and weekend maintenance periods so as to minimise disruption to passenger and freight services. However, for certain major HS2 works that cannot be accommodated within these maintenance periods, possessions of a longer duration will be required.
Possessions will be booked by or through Network Rail (NR) in accordance with standard industry processes and will be planned to minimise disruption. In planning engineering works HS2 Ltd and NR will work with train operators and freight operators to make sure there are suitable alternative route and travel options available.
The possessions planning process includes consultation with the wider railway industry, including operators and users, to ensure that the relevant information is provided, that the possessions are considered in the context of wider railway operations, and that appropriate mitigation measures are put in place. Where compensation is due for the impacts of possessions on operators, it is anticipated such compensation will be provided in accordance with standard industry processes.
We continue to work with HS2 and other organisations to reduce the impact of works.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of trains per hour that will run between Birmingham and London Euston once HS2 is completed.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The business case for HS2 assumes that seven trains per hour in each direction will run between central Birmingham stations (Birmingham New Street and the new Curzon Street station) and London Euston. This includes three trains per hour using HS2.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
Her Majesty's Government, in the light of uncertainties surrounding the cost of HS2, what plans they have for producing detailed and up-to-date estimates.
Answered by Lord Callanan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are keeping a tough grip on costs and are determined to deliver HS2 within budget.
The Spending Review in 2015 set out a long-term budget of £55.7bn (2015 prices) for delivery of HS2. That budget has not changed. There are currently detailed cost estimates in place for each of the HS2 Phases (1, 2a and 2b).
Our latest assessment of the cost estimate for Phase 2 was published on 17th July 2017 as part of the Phase 2 Business Case, which is attached and can be found on the GOV.UK web site:
The development of these cost estimates will evolve as the scheme design matures. We will continue to develop the programme cost estimate to inform future decision points, such as Phase 1 Main Works Civils Notice to Proceed expected in 2019, and Phase 2b hybrid Bill deposit expected by the end of 2019.
Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much public money has been spent on HS2 to date; how much is estimated to be spent in the next financial year; what is the estimated final cost to the public purse; and what is the projected completion date.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
To date (2009/10 – Dec 2015) the government has spent £1.4bn on the HS2 programme. The Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd are currently in the process of finalising their estimates for the next financial year (2016/17). The 2015 Spending Review reconfirmed the Government’s commitment to a long-term funding envelope for delivering the HS2 programme at £55.7bn in 2015 prices. Phase One and Phase 2a are scheduled to be complete by 2026 and the remainder of Phase Two is expected to be completed by 2034.