Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's letter of 11 April 2014 to the Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, when he plans to publish the advice by HS2 Ltd and Network Rail on improving connections to European rail networks referred to in that letter.

The HS2 Plus Report by Sir David Higgins, which was published in March 2014, highlighted a number of issues with HS2-HS1 link proposed in the Phase One hybrid Bill. In response to the HS2 Plus report, the Secretary of State decided to remove the HS1-HS2 link from the Phase One Hybrid Bill as it required too many compromises in terms of impacts on freight, passengers and the community in Camden.

The Secretary of State has therefore asked HS2 Ltd to consider how to improve connections to the continent. This connectivity study, which is nearing completion, will explore options to improve connections to the continent. We expect the study to be completed by the end of this year.