High Speed 2
The Government is proposing to build a new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham and further north which will cut through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Read the latest news below on the proposals and the opposition to them. You can also see detailed maps of the route through the Chilterns showing the impact it will have on protected landscapes, wildlife sites, historic features and rights of way.
Latest news
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Poor case for HS2 says Govt watchdog
16 May 2013
PM confirms tunnel option will be part of environmental consultation
11 April 2013
Judge's decision on HS2 legal challenges expected on 15 March
08 March 2013
HS2 Mitigation Blueprint for Bucks
06 March 2013
HS2 mini summit on March 5th
25 February 2013
Local authorities, action groups and the Conservation Board will discuss the latest issues at a meeting in Aylesbury
Latest round of Community Forums
25 February 2013
Round 4 of HS2 Ltd's Community Forums are taking place at the moment
HS2: £600m 'detour' in Cheshire
29 January 2013
The straight route alignment deemed essential for Phase 1 of HS2 seems less important for Phase 2
Full scale of damage highlighted in new DVD
22 January 2013
The enormous impact of HS2 along the whole of its London to Birmingham route is highlighted in a new DVD
HS2 - what's happening in 2013
03 January 2013
There are some key activities taking place this year
High Court hears full case against HS2
17 December 2012
The High Court has now heard all five legal challenges to the Government's proposals for High Speed 2.
HS2 judicial reviews start 3rd December
30 November 2012
Five cases against the Government's plans for High Speed 2 are being heard in the High Court, starting on Monday 3rd December and concluding on Tuesday 11th December.
HS2 Action Alliance calls for review of HS2 proposals
17 October 2012
The West Coast Main Line franchise fiasco highlights the clear need for an independent review of the case for HS2, says the HS2 Action Alliance
Greening out, McLoughlin in
05 September 2012
Patrick McLoughlin takes over from Justine Greening as Secretary of State for Transport
Date set for judicial review of HS2
30 July 2012
The High Court has granted opponents of HS2 the right to seek judicial review of the Government's proposals
Rail investment plans undermine HS2 case
16 July 2012
£9bn rail investment package further weakens business case for HS2
16 July Day of Action for Stop HS2
03 July 2012
Plans to assess impact of HS2 inadequate
30 May 2012
Cabinet Office warns of risks to HS2 project
29 May 2012
Plan to move ancient woods widely criticised
02 May 2012
HS2 Summit in Aylesbury packed out
25 April 2012
HS2 is economic basket case
17 April 2012
The recent damning report on passenger numbers and costs for High Speed 1 is another nail in the coffin for HS2
Councils seek judicial review of HS2
03 April 2012
Wildlife Trust complains to European Commission over decision on HS2
28 March 2012
Disappointing start to HS2 Community Forums
22 March 2012
Meeting for landowners concerned about HS2
06 March 2012
New Stop HS2 poster available
01 March 2012
The Stop HS2 campaign have produced a striking new poster available to download here.
Buy sandwiches - support Stop HS2!
22 February 2012
Board supports legal challenge to HS2
14 February 2012
A letter warning of a potential legal challenge has been sent by the HS2 Action Alliance to the DfT
HS2 Ltd announces environmental assessment
03 February 2012
New - detailed map showing impact of route changes on Chilterns
27 January 2012
HS2 - the good, the bad and the uglier
17 January 2012
HS2 will cause huge and unacceptable damage to Chilterns
10 January 2012
The Chilterns Conservation Board today condemned the Government’s decision to proceed to the next stage of building a high speed rail line which will plough through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Muddled thinking on HS2
09 January 2012
Buy the Stop HS2 Christmas single!
20 December 2011
Longer tunnel will not help Chilterns
05 December 2011
If the High Speed Two rail line goes ahead the Chilterns AONB will be badly damaged, despite new Govt proposals to increase the length of tunnel under the AONB.
High speed railway on wrong track?
08 November 2011
Today's report from the Transport Select Committee contains many reservations about the Government's proposals for a high speed rail network.
Parliamentary debate on HS2
10 October 2011
Impact on natural & historic environment
22 August 2011
Detailed descriptions of the impact of HS2 on the natural and historic environment of the Chilterns are now available - see the profile descriptions for map 1-5.
Ramblers Association map
08 June 2011
The Ramblers' Association have created a map showing all the rights of way along the HS2 route which will be affected if it goes ahead.
51m
25 May 2011
13 local authorities including county and district authorities in Bucks have joined together to campaign against HS2 under the name 51m
Detailed maps published
17 May 2011
Detailed maps showing the impact of HS2 on the natural environment, historic features and rights of way network between Chalfont St Giles and Wendover, plus panorama photos along the route, are now available.
New factsheet
12 May 2011
Read the Conservation Board's new factsheet on the impact of HS2 on the Chilterns
The case against HS2
09 May 2011
Read a summary of the case against HS2 as presented by Steve Rodrick at the Great Missenden Rally on 8 May
Taxpayers Alliance report
04 February 2011
A report just published by the Tax Payers' Alliance confirms that there are many flaws in the business case for HS2.
Tunnelling impact outlined
29 November 2010
The impacts of tunnnelling through the chalk geology of the Misbourne Valley are outlined in a report by Dr Haydon Bailey for the Chiltern Society. The impacts could include pollution of underground water from which domestic supplies are taken and a total loss of surface flow in the River Misbourne.
Slideshow
27 October 2010
Keith Hoffmeister of the Chiltern Society Photo Group has produced an excellent slideshow which shows in detail the countryside that will be damaged if HS2's Route 3 through the Misbourne Valley is built.
Government announcement
On March 11th 2010 plans were announced by the Government to build a new high speed rail line between London and Birmingham that will pass through the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The aim is that the line, known as High Speed 2, will ultimately extend to northern England.
Routes through Chilterns
The Government's preferred route for the line as it passes through the Chilterns is via the Misbourne Valley, in a tunnel past Chalfont St Giles and Amersham and then mostly overground to Wendover. Construction of the route if it gets the go-ahead will start in 2017 and take nine years, at a cost of £33 billion.
Conservation Board response
The Chilterns Conservation Board believes that the net benefits of the new line, both environmental and economic, have not been proven and therefore there is not a strong enough case to justify causing irreversible damage to the Chilterns AONB. It is opposed to the line coming through any part of the Chilterns.
The Chilterns is protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, part of the same family as National Parks - its countryside is nationally important. It is not an appropriate place for any major development. Even if High Speed 2 is considered to be in the national interest that case has yet to be proven and accepted as beyond doubt. In the Board's view there are realistic alternatives to achieving the same environmental and economic gains.
National planning law states that major development within an AONB can only be considered if it is clearly in the national interest and cannot go anywhere else. The Conservation Board does not believe that High Speed 2 meets either of these tests.
What you can do if you are opposed to the line being built through the Chilterns:
- Write to your MP
- Write to Patrick McCloughlin, Secretary of State at the Department for Transport
- Join the Facebook group Save the Chilterns - say no to a high speed rail link
Video Clips
A YouTube clip of a German high speed train entering a tunnel at 186 mph and the associated noise:
A YouTube clip of a German high speed train exiting a tunnel at 160 mph:
The HS1 line in Kent
Other HS2-related websites
- The Chiltern Society
- Email your MP about HS2
- High Speed 2 Ltd
- Chiltern Countryside Group
- e-petition against HS2 'paving bill'
- HS2 Action Alliance
- Stop HS2
- Berks Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust
- 51m - local authorities against HS2
- South Heath Against HS2
- CPRE Rail issues page
- Photos of Misbourne Valley and High Speed 1 in Kent