High Speed 2 Railway Line: Air Pollution

(asked on 22nd March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) obligations and (b) targets relating to air particulate matter and emissions (i) HS2 Ltd and (ii) HS2 Ltd's contractors have under the Government’s Clean Air Strategy.


Answered by
Andrew Stephenson Portrait
Andrew Stephenson
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 30th March 2021

Air quality requirements for HS2 are set during the parliamentary stages of the Bills for each phase of the railway. These reflect any relevant legal requirements or wider strategic governmental goals, and build on the air quality impact assessments and conclusions reported in the relevant Environmental Statements.

Measures to mitigate air quality effects on Phase One of HS2 are set out in Chapter 7 of the Code of Construction Practice, and in Information Paper E31 (air quality). These measures include emission standards and targets for all Heavy Goods Vehicles and Light Duty Vehicles used in construction, plus best practice measures to control construction site dust. HS2 Ltd’s Air Quality Strategy, monthly monitoring reports and annual air quality reports can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/collections/monitoring-the-environmental-effects-of-hs2.

HS2 Ltd is also leading on a wide range of innovations to trial and roll out a range of low and zero emission plant and machinery on sites. Further information can be found in the published case studies online at www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/hs2-environment-facts/hs2-and-air-quality/.

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