Plans for high-speed rail network London to Birmingham unveiled

Plans for a £33 billion high-speed rail network from London to Birmingham and on to northern England were unveiled by the Britishgovernment.

But the first London-Birmingham phase of the project will have no direct link to Heathrow airport, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond announced.

He said there would be a spur to Heathrow, but that would be part of the second, north-of-Birmingham, phase of the project,

This would mean the spur would not be finished until around the mid-2030s and would open at the same time as the routes to Manchester and Leeds.

Until then Heathrow-bound passengers would be able to change to fast Heathrow Express services at Old Oak Common in north west London and there would be a direct interchange with the cross-London Crossrail line.

Mr Hammond also ruled out a direct link from the London-Birmingham line – known as HS2 – to HS1, which is the London to Folkestone Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link.

Instead, there will be a connection to HS1 via a new tunnel from Old Oak Common.

Publishing details of the London to Birmingham route, Mr Hammond said around 50 per cent of the route first proposed by the Labour government earlier this year had been amended.

This has followed vehement opposition to the line from those living in Tory heartlands in the Home Counties and South Midlands.

Network Rail said a new line was “essential”, while rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus said: “Wherever this new line is built, there will be winners and losers. It is important that the government and industry continues to discuss the implications of this decision with affected communities and addresses concerns.”

The line will start at a redeveloped Euston station in north London.

It will terminate at a new city centre station built at Curzon/Fazeley Street in Birmingham’s Eastside regeneration area, with the main line extending north to join the West Coast Main Line near Lichfield.

The second phase will see Y-shaped projections, with the legs going to Manchester in north west England and Leeds in north east England with connections to points further north via the East Coast and West Coast main lines.