HS2 set to go ahead after House of Lords oppose bid to block long awaited rail project

Rail project: Peers opposed a bid to block the legislation

Chloe Chaplain31 January 2017

An eleventh-hour bid to derail the high-speed rail project has failed in the House of Lords.

Peers opposed a backbench move to block legislation that paves the way for the £55.7 billion scheme by 386 votes to 26, majority 360.

The long-awaited HS2 project is now set to go ahead after more than three years of parliamentary scrutiny.

The wrecking amendment, stopped in its tracks in the Lords, was proposed by Tory peer and former deputy Commons speaker Lord Framlingham, who argued all credibility for the scheme had "long since gone".

HS2: The project is due to start in the spring

But transport minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon stressed the importance of HS2 to ensuring the UK was "a 21st century country on the world stage".

Having received its third reading, the High Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Bill now goes to the Queen for royal assent.

It opens the way for construction work on phase one of HS2 from London to Birmingham to start in the spring.

Phase one is due to open in December 2026, with a second Y-shaped phase launching in two stages.

Phase 2a from the West Midlands to Crewe will open in 2027 and phase 2b, from Crewe to Manchester and from the West Midlands to Leeds, South Yorkshire and the East Midlands, will begin operation in 2033.