Minister publishes formal lifting of the safeguarding directions for HS2

Article summary

Minister of State at the Department for Transport, Andrew Stephenson, has published a written statement to formally lift the safeguarding directions for High Speed 2 (HS2) Phase 2a between the West Midlands and Crewe. This will allow passengers to travel on HS2 trains through to Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland, joining the West Coast Main Line and reduce journey time between London and Manchester by nearly half an hour. The minister further announced the closure of the Rural Support Zone, Extended Homeowner Protection Zone and Homeowner Payment schemes as the schemes were primarily established to support people who would have been impacted by the construction of the Phase 2 of HS2.