Keir Starmer – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Keir Starmer on 2015-10-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what compensation HS2 Ltd has to pay to rail franchise holders for the track possessions required to bring High Speed 2 to Euston; and what effect the provisions made in the AP3 Environmental Statement have had on this figure.

Mr Robert Goodwill

HS2 Ltd deposited an Additional Provision (AP3) to the HS2 Phase One hybrid Bill on 16 September 2015 which includes revised plans for London Euston station. The new plans focus on an incremental strategy which will deliver new high speed platforms (Stages A and B1) and do not preclude wider redevelopment of the existing station in the future (Stage B2).

We have listened to train operators and worked very closely with them throughout the development of the new design. The staged approach will mean less disruption to passengers using existing train services and therefore compensation to train operators. We have made budget provision for a level of compensation to train operators as part of the overall Phase One rail budget. These allowances have still to be agreed with the relevant train operators and will be assessed further as part of the design development process. The information also remains commercially sensitive.

Any necessary impacts to the existing railway will be carefully planned with Network Rail and the affected operators from the outset, learning from experiences at other major stations such as Kings Cross and London Bridge.