PROFESSOR ANDREW MCNAUGHTON, who was a key figure in developing HS2’s ‘Y’ network, reminds PHILIP SHERRATT about the project’s history and the basis for the original plans
HS2 seems to have undergone so many twists and turns in the last few years.We’ve seen Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to issue Notice to Proceed in February 2020, which formally kicked off main works on Phase One, then the publication of the Integrated Rail Plan in November 2021, which cut back the eastern leg to East Midlands Parkway, the more recent announcement of the decision to ‘rephase’ Phase 2a and then the National Audit Office’s report about Euston, which states that the current designs for the London terminus are considered unaffordable.
