High Speed 2

High Speed 2
Preliminary High Speed 2, High Speed 1 and Channel Tunnel Rail links
Overview
Type	High-speed railway
System	National Rail
Status	Planned for 2026 (phase 1) and 2032-3 (phase 2)
Locale	England Phase 1: Greater London, West Midlands Phase 2: North West, Yorkshire Potential future phases: North East, Scotland
Termini	London Euston Phase 1: Birmingham Curzon Street and WCML connection near Rugeley Phase 2: Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds Potential future termini: Liverpool Lime Street, Newcastle Central, Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central
Stations	4 (phase 1) 6 (Phase 2)
Technical
Line length	192 kilometres (119 mi) (phase 1, to WCML connection)Phase 2:216 miles (348 km)
Number of tracks	Double track or Quadruple in some sections
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Loading gauge	GC
Electrification	25 kV AC overhead
Operating speed	Up to 400 km/h (250 mph)

High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway in the United Kingdom linking London, Birmingham, the East Midlands, Leeds and Manchester. It would be the second high-speed rail line in Britain, after High Speed 1 (HS1) which connects London to the Channel Tunnel. The line is to be built in a "Y" configuration, with London on the bottom of the "Y", Birmingham at the centre, Leeds at the top right and Manchester at the top left. Work on the first phase is scheduled to begin in 2017, reaching Birmingham by 2026, Crewe on the left leg of the "Y" by 2027, and fully completed by 2033.

Carlisle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle, Preston, Sheffield and York will be linked to the network by HS2 trains running over existing slower tracks or edge-of-town HS2 stations. The HS2 project is being developed by High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd, a company limited by guarantee established by the UK government and has a projected cost of £56 billion. Peak hour capacity leaving Euston will more than triple once HS2 is running, increasing from 11,300 to 34,900.

The project is to be built in two phases. Phase 1 is from London to the West Midlands and phase 2 from the West Midlands to Leeds and Manchester. Phase 2 is split into two sub-phases. Phase 2a is from the West Midlands to Crewe. Phase 2b will extend the project from Crewe to Manchester, and the West Midlands to Leeds. The government’s decision will go through the parliamentary process for approval.

Although Parliament has approved the first two phases of construction, precise details of the plan and route have not been formalised, and are still open to negotiation and change. For example, the spur to Heathrow airport was dropped from the whole scheme in 2015, as was the HS1 to HS2 link, while the Crewe Hub has been added to the scheme. The sections either side of the Pennines are open to amended design to accommodate HS3 using sections of HS2 track.