High Speed 2 Railway Line: Chilterns

(asked on 28th September 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what procedure was used to change the location of the Chiltern Tunnel North Portal at Frith Hill in South Heath on the HS2 Phase One route; why the change was authorised; and who authorised that change.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 9th October 2020

The location of the Chiltern Tunnel North Portal was changed by means of an Additional Provision (known as AP4) to the then HS2 Phase One Bill, introduced on 12 October 2015. The changes brought about by AP4 are therefore part of the Act which subsequently received Royal Assent in 2017.

The change was authorised by the Transport Ministers at the time, following a recommendation by the hybrid Bill Select Committee which was established to scrutinise such proposals. The changes aimed to reduce the scale and duration of local construction activity as well as preserve a section of nearby woodland. Further information can be found in the non-technical summary of AP4 available online on the gov.uk website.

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