Up and down the UK in no time

High Speed trains travelling at more than 200mph will connect London to Birmingham by 2026 and to other British cities and towns by 2033.

Today transport secretary Justine Greening gave the official authorisation to the first phase of the controversial High Speed 2 (HS2) rail scheme, amid disapproval from Tory MPs and local residents in Chilterns, where houses could suffer from noise or be demolished.

Ms Greening said that the over £32 million railway project will benefit the whole country as it is going to support jobs and prosperity in the future by creating both thousands of jobs and more space on existing routes.

HS2 was first put forward by Labour in 2010 and has been supported by the coalition Government, the rail industry and big businesses since then.

The High Speed train will travel at 225mph from 20126, slashing the journey time from London to Birmingham to 49 minutes and it will have stations in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and the east Midlands.

About 36Km of the route’s first phase will run through tunnels meant to connect London to Birmingham, while a second phase would see HS2 continuing on a Y-shaped route up to Leeds and Manchester. Services will also reach Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow and Edinburgh by 2033 and double-decker trains will be introduced, eventually. 

HS2 trains will carry more than 25,000 people per hour.