Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the purpose of the revised track layout contained in the latest HS2 Phase 2 Additional Provisions SES 2 and AP2 ES Volume 2 Community Area 1: Fradley to Colton; and what is the additional cost of those changes.

The proposed changes at Handsacre Junction, included within Additional Provision 2 of the Phase 2a hybrid Bill, are intended to deliver a simpler connection to the West Coast Main Line from the HS2 main line. Revising this connection will avoid significant levels of possessions of the existing railway, and so reducing disruption to the travelling public and freight users.

There is no additional cost in changing the design at Handsacre and this is a lower risk solution.