Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the timeframe is for construction work on High Speed Two Phase 2a (West Midlands - Crewe) to commence.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Phase 2a Bill is currently in the House of Lords with petition hearings restarting before the Lords Select Committee next week. Parliamentary time allowing, we hope it will receive Royal Assent before the end of the year. Royal Assent of the Bill will allow construction of Phase 2a to begin. We expect the construction of Phase 2a to align with the timing of Phase One.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of High Speed Two construction sites are in operation as at 13 July 2020.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
229 sites out of a possible 244 sites are open, meaning that 94% of sites that could be open are open. All Construction sites for Main Works Civils on the Phase One route are open. A small number of enabling works construction sites remain closed/paused, primarily due to work requiring access to residents’ homes.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 on the timeframe for the construction of High Speed Two.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
High Speed Two Ltd continue to monitor the impacts of Covid-19 on construction. 94% of sites are open on Phase One and work is continuing in line with Public Health England Guidelines. As part of our twice-yearly reports to Parliament on the status of the project, we will consider the impacts of COVID-19 once the pandemic’s wider effect on the economy becomes clearer.