Backlash from Conservative heartlands expected over high speed rail
Government decision to back Chilterns route for London-Birmingham railway angers residents
* Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 19 December 2010 14.31 GMT
The government is braced for a backlash in the Conservative heartlands as it prepares to unveil a £17bn high-speed railway that will route 250mph trains through prime countryside.
The transport secretary, Philip Hammond, will announce tomorrow that the preferred London-to-Birmingham route outlined by the Labour government, which goes through Tory constituencies in Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire remains the best option.
Hammond said today that the route has been altered to mitigate its impact on the local communities and sensitive areas, and said that opponents of the project had been the victims of "misinformation".
"When people understand precisely what is being proposed, I think many of them will realise that the impact will be far less than they have been led to believe," he told the BBC.
But the announcement confirming the route will come to the consternation of residents in the Chiltern Hills who are attempting to keep the High Speed Two project out of an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The HS2 Action Alliance has warned of political consequences for the Conservative party whose MPs along the route including the Welsh secretary, Cheryl Gillan, who was re-elected as MP for Chesham and Amersham this year with her highest share of the vote since 1992.
"People are so angry about this. I have heard many people say they would vote Labour if Labour came out against it," said Julian Smyth-Osbourne, a spokesman for the alliance. Last week, Labour raised doubts over its initial backing for the link, saying that it was no longer "untouchable" due to spending cuts.
Peter Bunce, 53, a farmer near Great Missenden in Gillan's constituency, whose land will be bisected by a railway viaduct, said: "Most farmers here are Conservative but there is resentment about this. All farmers are against it and I have not heard of anyone round here who is for it. If you want to use the line from here you have to go all the way to London to catch a train to Birmingham."
Bridget Crick, 52, whose house in the village of South Heath will back on to the line 140 metres away, said: "This is the most beautiful place on earth. It is sacrilege." Crick, a Conservative voter, said her family was disillusioned after Hammond announced a study of the route following his appointment but appeared not to have listened to local concerns. "They have made a lot of promises and I feel very disappointed because, regardless of what party is in power, I just don't think they have been up front with people," she said.
Gillan has raised concerns about the route while other Tory MPs on the route, including Steve Baker in Wycombe and David Lidington in Aylesbury, have also voiced doubts. John Bercow, the Conservative MP for Buckingham and the Commons speaker, has said the line has no "single identifiable benefit".
Announcement of the route will bring better news for Conservative MPs in Warwickshire, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire, including Jeremy Wright in Kenilworth and Southam, Andrea Leadsom in south Northamptonshire and Chris Pincher in Tamworth. Hammond is expected to endorse changes recommended by High Speed Two, the government-backed company that designed the route, that would take the line further away from the Northamptonshire town of Brackley and several villages on a stretch between Buckingham and Coventry, while the line will be sunk lower when it passes by the village of Hints near Tamworth.
A common complaint along the route dwells on the government's ability to steer a railway line through an area of outstanding natural beauty, protected by law, while residents struggle to get a house extension. "The country cannot afford it and it is going through an area of outstanding natural beauty. If you want to extend your house you can't because it is an area of outstanding natural beauty but if it's a railway line that's different," said Elizabeth James, another South Heath resident.
Aine Hennessy, 19, who lives near The Lee, a village used as a location in the Midsomer Murders television series, said she would prefer to see the £17bn cost, including a £750m investment in this parliament, diverted to university education. "That would be a better use of the money. It is not very fair what they are doing to the students at the moment," said Hennessy, who is about to study nursing at Bucks New University.
Hammond has pledged to set up a multimillion pound compensation scheme for homes affected by the project, but is adamant that it will go ahead. "High speed rail is in the national interest and will create huge economic benefits for our great cities in the Midlands and the north. It will bring Britain closer together and help secure our prosperity in the twenty first century," he said.
UK: controversy over new high-speed route
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Re: UK: controversy over new high-speed route
Local heartache over route of high-speed rail link
Today the government defended plans for its new high-speed railway. Journey times will be slashed between London and the Midlands but the line will cut right through the beautiful Chilterns
o Laura Barton
o guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 December 2010 20.29 GMT
Here on the edge of Wendover winter is rolling in, a rush of wind and spittle and sharp, sudden bursts of sunshine. Through the damp sky, cables run with a wet crackle between pylons raised like vast, clenched knuckles — an emblem, perhaps, for the Goliath of progress that once again threatens this small Buckinghamshire market town.
Wendover lies in a valley amid the Chiltern hills, an area of outstanding natural beauty, just 35 miles from London. It has a population of 7,600, and a main street that is filled with boutiques and bookshops, antique stores and tea rooms. There are a couple of pubs, the Red Lion and the Shoulder of Mutton, a delicatessen, hairdressing salons, estate agents, and the kind of historic buildings that stirs a particular kind of British pride.
For all its air of graceful preservation, the years have brought considerable change to Wendover: since 1892, the town has been served by the railway to London, and today the journey to Marylebone station takes just under an hour. Later years brought the electricity pylons, and then, nearly 15 years ago, the A413 bypass. But it is the latest proposal for change that most concerns the residents of the town: the proposed high-speed railway that will connect London Euston to the West Midlands, and charge through this idyllic corner of Britain.
For months now residents have been awaiting further details of the £17bn plan, first announced under Labour and due to continue under the Tory-led government. Since the election, they have spied a glimmer of hope: the route runs through Tory heartland, crossing 16 Conservative constituencies, including those of four Cabinet members and the Speaker, all of whom would surely be unwilling to incur the wrath of their constituents. "But the odd thing is they're all ministers, and not allowed to speak up against the government," points out Steve Rodrick, chief officer of the Chilterns Conservation Board. "So no one is representing our interests in the house. Our MPs are open and affable and working behind the scenes, but while you'd think we are in a powerful position, we're not."
On Sunday, transport secretary Philip Hammond told Radio 4 of plans to "refine" the route, with tracks in deeper cuttings and tunnels to minimise the visual impact: "The route that we publish as our preferred route will be changed from the original," he said. "I believe there is some complete misinformation out there about the extent of the impact of the railway and when people understand precisely what is being proposed, I think many of them will realise that the impact will be less than they have been led to believe."
Work is due to start on High Speed 2 (HS2) in 2015, and will continue until 2026. The railway sits at the heart of the government's transport strategy – now more than ever, since it has ruled out the possibility of new runways at airports in south-east England. It is hoped that London to Birmingham will comprise phase one of a network that will ultimately continue, in a Y-shape, to northern England and Scotland.
The new line will see trains running at speeds up to 250mph, and is predicted to reduce journey times between London and Birmingham from an hour and 20 minutes to just 50 minutes – a time that, it is hoped, could bolster economic regeneration in the Midlands.
While it may sound impressive – not least the argument that the promised high-speed rail travel might lure many away from more environmentally detrimental journeys by air or by car, the reality for those who live along its proposed route is brutal.
The campaign against HS2 has been tireless. "STOP HS2," read the posters in shop windows and tethered to lampposts, fences, stuck on boards in front gardens. "HS2 will destroy the Chilterns," they shout. "We can't let it happen." "No business case. No environmental case. No money to pay for it," insists another, alongside a cartoon train drawn with demonic eyes.
The campaigners argue that there is little economic sense to the plan. "It's a scandalous waste of money," says Rodrick. "We'd be prepared to take a hit for the rest of the country, if it meant everyone was going to win greatly, but the savings are notional. And we don't think we should sacrifice ancient countryside and national heritage for that." With the new extension, the total cost will be closer to £34bn. "That's £1bn to save you one minute on the journey to Manchester," he points out. "Hammond says it will be 'transformational' and heal the north-south divide. It beggars belief. They're trying to keep up with the high-speed trains of the Spanish and French and the Germans, but their geographical needs are different."
And while the line will carve up their fields, few in the area will actually benefit – the HS2 trains will not stop at Wendover.
In Wendover's visitors' office, Ian Gosling traces the route on a map, his finger brushing over Coxgrove wood, Grove Farm and pausing over a row of cottages on the edge of the town. "People along here are going to get smacked for a second time," he says; already they have weathered the upheaval of the bypass. Homes will be knocked down, pylons shuffled, and for those who remain living close to the line, there will be the noise of high-speed trains hurrying past their gardens.
At stake, too, is the preservation of the Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road — a pathway followed since prehistoric times by herdsmen, travellers and soldiers, running from Wiltshire, along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs and on to the River Thames at the Goring Gap. It passes the stone circle at Avebury and the White Horse at Uffington, as well as Grim's Ditch, Wayland's Smithy and Barbury castle. It runs, too, right down Wendover high street, past the clock tower, built in 1842 and now repurposed as the visitor centre, then out towards Wendover woods. There is an ancient feel to this land, something rich and deep and solemn.
"The beauty of the Chiltern railway is it's small-scale," says Rodrick. "It fits in with the fabric of the countryside. The high-speed rail has to go straight, and it's electric, so it can't be disguised by trees, because trees can't go anywhere near it." The implications for local wildlife seem dismal. "It's a veritable Berlin wall for wildlife," he explains. "If you're a badger or a fox you can't get across that, so you will end up fragmenting the wildlife, and fragmentation is the biggest threat to British wildlife."
On the edge of the town, over the Frank Goodson bridge, stands the row of cottages threatened with demolition when the new railway comes. Their names are suggestive enough – Pixie Cottage, Jasmine Bank, and they stand small and snug in pebbledash and brick, front paths flagged, firewood stacked outside front doors, their gardens filled with ivy and lily of the valley, irises, lavender and rosehips, browning and damp.
Behind the cottages there is an incline down towards open land; a darkening pathway that leads past a paddock and the cricket club, its verges filled with dandelions, red berries, leaf mulch, while above stretch the dun-coloured bare branches and pale patches of sky.
The path peters out at the edge of a ploughed field: a great grey-brown expanse netted with cobwebs. There is the cold, sharp scent of air after rain, the sky stitched by birdsong, a steady pick-pick-pick. This land is on borrowed time; in just a few years, machinery will rip through this earth, making way for the new railway, for the shiny symbol of progress. But for now, it offers a view beyond the bypass, and the railway, and the electric cables, out over Wendover and across over Buckinghamshire: broad fields, deep woods, sudden sunlight over the far hill, far from the pylon's muscle, the road's roar.
Transport secretary makes offer to homeowners hit by high-speed rail link
Philip Hammond announces compensation scheme for people whose property values significantly fall as result of line
* Caroline Davies
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 December 2010 19.03 GMT
A compensation scheme for those whose property values significantly fall as a result of the HS2 high-speed rail line was announced as transport secretary Philip Hammond today confirmed the preferred route through Tory heartlands between London and Birmingham.
In a Commons statement Hammond said the line, which will carry 250mph trains, would help tackle the north-south divide by slashing travelling times to and from the capital.
The route will go through prime countryside, but changes would "significantly mitigate" visual impact, he said. There were opportunities for a "green bridge" and a longer "green tunnel" between Amersham and Wendover in Buckinghamshire.
As part of a consultation to be launched in the New Year, Hammond said officials had been asked to prepare a range of options for a scheme "to assist those whose properties would not be required for the construction of the railway, but who would nonetheless see a significant diminution of value as a result of the construction of the line".
The London-Birmingham link is the first phase of the plan, with a Y-shaped network later stretching to Manchester and Leeds. A spur to Heathrow airport will be constructed in the second phase. Until then there will be an interchange to the Heathrow Express at Old Oak Common in north-west London.
TransportSense, which opposes the link, pledged one of the largest grassroots campaigns in political history. "This railway is not green nor will it narrow the north-south divide. Worse still, there are cheaper, greener alternatives," said campaigner Julian Smyth-Osbourne.
As part of the consultation roadshows would be held along the length of the preferred route, said Hammond. Journey times between London and Birmingham would be brought within 49 minutes, and between London and Glasgow and Edinburgh, within three-and-a-half hours, he said.
Today the government defended plans for its new high-speed railway. Journey times will be slashed between London and the Midlands but the line will cut right through the beautiful Chilterns
o Laura Barton
o guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 December 2010 20.29 GMT
Here on the edge of Wendover winter is rolling in, a rush of wind and spittle and sharp, sudden bursts of sunshine. Through the damp sky, cables run with a wet crackle between pylons raised like vast, clenched knuckles — an emblem, perhaps, for the Goliath of progress that once again threatens this small Buckinghamshire market town.
Wendover lies in a valley amid the Chiltern hills, an area of outstanding natural beauty, just 35 miles from London. It has a population of 7,600, and a main street that is filled with boutiques and bookshops, antique stores and tea rooms. There are a couple of pubs, the Red Lion and the Shoulder of Mutton, a delicatessen, hairdressing salons, estate agents, and the kind of historic buildings that stirs a particular kind of British pride.
For all its air of graceful preservation, the years have brought considerable change to Wendover: since 1892, the town has been served by the railway to London, and today the journey to Marylebone station takes just under an hour. Later years brought the electricity pylons, and then, nearly 15 years ago, the A413 bypass. But it is the latest proposal for change that most concerns the residents of the town: the proposed high-speed railway that will connect London Euston to the West Midlands, and charge through this idyllic corner of Britain.
For months now residents have been awaiting further details of the £17bn plan, first announced under Labour and due to continue under the Tory-led government. Since the election, they have spied a glimmer of hope: the route runs through Tory heartland, crossing 16 Conservative constituencies, including those of four Cabinet members and the Speaker, all of whom would surely be unwilling to incur the wrath of their constituents. "But the odd thing is they're all ministers, and not allowed to speak up against the government," points out Steve Rodrick, chief officer of the Chilterns Conservation Board. "So no one is representing our interests in the house. Our MPs are open and affable and working behind the scenes, but while you'd think we are in a powerful position, we're not."
On Sunday, transport secretary Philip Hammond told Radio 4 of plans to "refine" the route, with tracks in deeper cuttings and tunnels to minimise the visual impact: "The route that we publish as our preferred route will be changed from the original," he said. "I believe there is some complete misinformation out there about the extent of the impact of the railway and when people understand precisely what is being proposed, I think many of them will realise that the impact will be less than they have been led to believe."
Work is due to start on High Speed 2 (HS2) in 2015, and will continue until 2026. The railway sits at the heart of the government's transport strategy – now more than ever, since it has ruled out the possibility of new runways at airports in south-east England. It is hoped that London to Birmingham will comprise phase one of a network that will ultimately continue, in a Y-shape, to northern England and Scotland.
The new line will see trains running at speeds up to 250mph, and is predicted to reduce journey times between London and Birmingham from an hour and 20 minutes to just 50 minutes – a time that, it is hoped, could bolster economic regeneration in the Midlands.
While it may sound impressive – not least the argument that the promised high-speed rail travel might lure many away from more environmentally detrimental journeys by air or by car, the reality for those who live along its proposed route is brutal.
The campaign against HS2 has been tireless. "STOP HS2," read the posters in shop windows and tethered to lampposts, fences, stuck on boards in front gardens. "HS2 will destroy the Chilterns," they shout. "We can't let it happen." "No business case. No environmental case. No money to pay for it," insists another, alongside a cartoon train drawn with demonic eyes.
The campaigners argue that there is little economic sense to the plan. "It's a scandalous waste of money," says Rodrick. "We'd be prepared to take a hit for the rest of the country, if it meant everyone was going to win greatly, but the savings are notional. And we don't think we should sacrifice ancient countryside and national heritage for that." With the new extension, the total cost will be closer to £34bn. "That's £1bn to save you one minute on the journey to Manchester," he points out. "Hammond says it will be 'transformational' and heal the north-south divide. It beggars belief. They're trying to keep up with the high-speed trains of the Spanish and French and the Germans, but their geographical needs are different."
And while the line will carve up their fields, few in the area will actually benefit – the HS2 trains will not stop at Wendover.
In Wendover's visitors' office, Ian Gosling traces the route on a map, his finger brushing over Coxgrove wood, Grove Farm and pausing over a row of cottages on the edge of the town. "People along here are going to get smacked for a second time," he says; already they have weathered the upheaval of the bypass. Homes will be knocked down, pylons shuffled, and for those who remain living close to the line, there will be the noise of high-speed trains hurrying past their gardens.
At stake, too, is the preservation of the Ridgeway, Britain's oldest road — a pathway followed since prehistoric times by herdsmen, travellers and soldiers, running from Wiltshire, along the chalk ridge of the Berkshire Downs and on to the River Thames at the Goring Gap. It passes the stone circle at Avebury and the White Horse at Uffington, as well as Grim's Ditch, Wayland's Smithy and Barbury castle. It runs, too, right down Wendover high street, past the clock tower, built in 1842 and now repurposed as the visitor centre, then out towards Wendover woods. There is an ancient feel to this land, something rich and deep and solemn.
"The beauty of the Chiltern railway is it's small-scale," says Rodrick. "It fits in with the fabric of the countryside. The high-speed rail has to go straight, and it's electric, so it can't be disguised by trees, because trees can't go anywhere near it." The implications for local wildlife seem dismal. "It's a veritable Berlin wall for wildlife," he explains. "If you're a badger or a fox you can't get across that, so you will end up fragmenting the wildlife, and fragmentation is the biggest threat to British wildlife."
On the edge of the town, over the Frank Goodson bridge, stands the row of cottages threatened with demolition when the new railway comes. Their names are suggestive enough – Pixie Cottage, Jasmine Bank, and they stand small and snug in pebbledash and brick, front paths flagged, firewood stacked outside front doors, their gardens filled with ivy and lily of the valley, irises, lavender and rosehips, browning and damp.
Behind the cottages there is an incline down towards open land; a darkening pathway that leads past a paddock and the cricket club, its verges filled with dandelions, red berries, leaf mulch, while above stretch the dun-coloured bare branches and pale patches of sky.
The path peters out at the edge of a ploughed field: a great grey-brown expanse netted with cobwebs. There is the cold, sharp scent of air after rain, the sky stitched by birdsong, a steady pick-pick-pick. This land is on borrowed time; in just a few years, machinery will rip through this earth, making way for the new railway, for the shiny symbol of progress. But for now, it offers a view beyond the bypass, and the railway, and the electric cables, out over Wendover and across over Buckinghamshire: broad fields, deep woods, sudden sunlight over the far hill, far from the pylon's muscle, the road's roar.
Transport secretary makes offer to homeowners hit by high-speed rail link
Philip Hammond announces compensation scheme for people whose property values significantly fall as result of line
* Caroline Davies
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 20 December 2010 19.03 GMT
A compensation scheme for those whose property values significantly fall as a result of the HS2 high-speed rail line was announced as transport secretary Philip Hammond today confirmed the preferred route through Tory heartlands between London and Birmingham.
In a Commons statement Hammond said the line, which will carry 250mph trains, would help tackle the north-south divide by slashing travelling times to and from the capital.
The route will go through prime countryside, but changes would "significantly mitigate" visual impact, he said. There were opportunities for a "green bridge" and a longer "green tunnel" between Amersham and Wendover in Buckinghamshire.
As part of a consultation to be launched in the New Year, Hammond said officials had been asked to prepare a range of options for a scheme "to assist those whose properties would not be required for the construction of the railway, but who would nonetheless see a significant diminution of value as a result of the construction of the line".
The London-Birmingham link is the first phase of the plan, with a Y-shaped network later stretching to Manchester and Leeds. A spur to Heathrow airport will be constructed in the second phase. Until then there will be an interchange to the Heathrow Express at Old Oak Common in north-west London.
TransportSense, which opposes the link, pledged one of the largest grassroots campaigns in political history. "This railway is not green nor will it narrow the north-south divide. Worse still, there are cheaper, greener alternatives," said campaigner Julian Smyth-Osbourne.
As part of the consultation roadshows would be held along the length of the preferred route, said Hammond. Journey times between London and Birmingham would be brought within 49 minutes, and between London and Glasgow and Edinburgh, within three-and-a-half hours, he said.
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Re: UK: controversy over new high-speed route
BBC 20 December 2010 Last updated at 20:38 GMT
London-to-Birmingham high speed train route announced
The planned route of the high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham has been altered after protests about its impact on homes and the countryside.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed the government broadly agreed with the chosen HS2 rail route.
But he said 50% of the preferred route published in March had been amended.
He said there would be compensation for those whose homes had to be destroyed to create the line and also for those whose homes were set to lose value.
Journey times
The £33bn rail link proposals were announced by the last government in March and the coalition has been examining the plans.
Trains would travel at more than 200mph, cutting journey times between the cities by about 30 minutes.
The plans will be put out for consultation next year and Mr Hammond said it would be "one of the biggest and most wide-ranging ever undertaken by government".
Mr Hammond insisted the scheme would help tackle the north-south divide by slashing travelling times to and from the capital.
He said the planned route had been altered to deal with serious concerns about its impact on local communities and countryside.
The line will start at a redeveloped Euston station in central London and terminate at a new station at Curzon Street/Fazeley Street in Birmingham's Eastside regeneration area. HS2 will join the West Coast Main Line near Lichfield.
Property values
In a statement to the Commons, he said: "I am confident that solutions have now been found which can significantly mitigate the impacts of the railway at local level which, when properly understood, will reassure many of those who have been understandably apprehensive about the potential impact on their lives and their property values.
"But despite our best efforts at mitigation, we will not be able to avoid all impacts on property values.
"I have asked my officials to prepare a range of options for a scheme to assist those whose properties would not be required for the construction of the railway, but who would nonetheless see a significant diminution of value as a result of the construction of the line."
Mr Hammond said a spur line to Heathrow airport would not be part of the London-Birmingham stage of the project, but would be included in the second phase that will also see extensions to Manchester and Leeds.
Amendments to the route include:
* Primrose Hill, north London - moving a tunnel 100 metres further north and making it deeper under ground
* Northolt, west London - line moved further away from housing
* Old Amersham to Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire - creation of a 150-metre bridge over a cutting to reduce its visual impact and avoid severing a public right of way
* Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire - line moved further away from a historic house
* Lichfield, Staffordshire - line moved meaning it would join the West Coast Main Line further north.
Mr Hammond said public consultation on the proposals was likely to start in February 2011.
A number of Conservative MPs have expressed concerns about the rail link, which passes through Tory heartlands, including the Chesham and Amersham constituency of Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan.
Under proposed changes to the route between Amersham and Wendover in Buckinghamshire, Mr Hammond said there were opportunities for a "green bridge" over the cutting and a longer "green tunnel".
'Wrong priority'
Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle said Mr Hammond was likely to face more opposition from within his own party than from Labour MPs.
"I suspect that he's got more support on this side of the House than on the benches behind him," she said.
"No doubt he'll find out in due course if he's done enough today to persuade the Secretary of State for Wales not to resign in protest at his plans."
TransportSense, which represents more than 50 local community groups opposed to HS2, said: "This project is the wrong priority for Britain.
"When we can't afford planes for an aircraft carrier, we are seeing cuts across local government and we're expecting students to run up thousands of pounds of debt, our politicians want to spend billions of our money on a rail link that will shave just 30 minutes off a trip from London to Birmingham."
The CBI said the project had the "potential to deliver real economic and environmental benefits" and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it would have "an enormous impact on connectivity between the UK's major cities".
Rail watchdog Passenger Focus said: "Wherever this new line is built, there will be winners and losers.
"It is important that the government and industry continues to discuss the implications of this decision with affected communities and addresses concerns."
Analysis
Iain Watson Political correspondent, BBC News
The high speed rail line won't bring benefits to travellers for another 15 years - but what's worrying the government is the friction it's causing now with some of its own MPs.
Sixteen Conservative constituencies could lie along the eventual route - including the Chesham and Amersham seat of Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan.
She's said she would, if necessary, defy the party whip to oppose the scheme and Foreign Office minister David Lidington, the MP for nearby Aylesbury, has said he is "personally against it".
The transport secretary signalled that he had listened to concerns by diverting the line away from some historic sites - and away from the city of Lichfield, a seat represented by the Conservative MP Michael Fabricant - and there would be more tunnels and deeper cuttings to reduce noise.
But it won't be possible to assess whether any potential rebellion has hit the buffers until a full consultation on the route has been completed next year.
London-to-Birmingham high speed train route announced
The planned route of the high-speed rail line from London to Birmingham has been altered after protests about its impact on homes and the countryside.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed the government broadly agreed with the chosen HS2 rail route.
But he said 50% of the preferred route published in March had been amended.
He said there would be compensation for those whose homes had to be destroyed to create the line and also for those whose homes were set to lose value.
Journey times
The £33bn rail link proposals were announced by the last government in March and the coalition has been examining the plans.
Trains would travel at more than 200mph, cutting journey times between the cities by about 30 minutes.
The plans will be put out for consultation next year and Mr Hammond said it would be "one of the biggest and most wide-ranging ever undertaken by government".
Mr Hammond insisted the scheme would help tackle the north-south divide by slashing travelling times to and from the capital.
He said the planned route had been altered to deal with serious concerns about its impact on local communities and countryside.
The line will start at a redeveloped Euston station in central London and terminate at a new station at Curzon Street/Fazeley Street in Birmingham's Eastside regeneration area. HS2 will join the West Coast Main Line near Lichfield.
Property values
In a statement to the Commons, he said: "I am confident that solutions have now been found which can significantly mitigate the impacts of the railway at local level which, when properly understood, will reassure many of those who have been understandably apprehensive about the potential impact on their lives and their property values.
"But despite our best efforts at mitigation, we will not be able to avoid all impacts on property values.
"I have asked my officials to prepare a range of options for a scheme to assist those whose properties would not be required for the construction of the railway, but who would nonetheless see a significant diminution of value as a result of the construction of the line."
Mr Hammond said a spur line to Heathrow airport would not be part of the London-Birmingham stage of the project, but would be included in the second phase that will also see extensions to Manchester and Leeds.
Amendments to the route include:
* Primrose Hill, north London - moving a tunnel 100 metres further north and making it deeper under ground
* Northolt, west London - line moved further away from housing
* Old Amersham to Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire - creation of a 150-metre bridge over a cutting to reduce its visual impact and avoid severing a public right of way
* Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire - line moved further away from a historic house
* Lichfield, Staffordshire - line moved meaning it would join the West Coast Main Line further north.
Mr Hammond said public consultation on the proposals was likely to start in February 2011.
A number of Conservative MPs have expressed concerns about the rail link, which passes through Tory heartlands, including the Chesham and Amersham constituency of Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan.
Under proposed changes to the route between Amersham and Wendover in Buckinghamshire, Mr Hammond said there were opportunities for a "green bridge" over the cutting and a longer "green tunnel".
'Wrong priority'
Shadow Transport Secretary Maria Eagle said Mr Hammond was likely to face more opposition from within his own party than from Labour MPs.
"I suspect that he's got more support on this side of the House than on the benches behind him," she said.
"No doubt he'll find out in due course if he's done enough today to persuade the Secretary of State for Wales not to resign in protest at his plans."
TransportSense, which represents more than 50 local community groups opposed to HS2, said: "This project is the wrong priority for Britain.
"When we can't afford planes for an aircraft carrier, we are seeing cuts across local government and we're expecting students to run up thousands of pounds of debt, our politicians want to spend billions of our money on a rail link that will shave just 30 minutes off a trip from London to Birmingham."
The CBI said the project had the "potential to deliver real economic and environmental benefits" and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry said it would have "an enormous impact on connectivity between the UK's major cities".
Rail watchdog Passenger Focus said: "Wherever this new line is built, there will be winners and losers.
"It is important that the government and industry continues to discuss the implications of this decision with affected communities and addresses concerns."
Analysis
Iain Watson Political correspondent, BBC News
The high speed rail line won't bring benefits to travellers for another 15 years - but what's worrying the government is the friction it's causing now with some of its own MPs.
Sixteen Conservative constituencies could lie along the eventual route - including the Chesham and Amersham seat of Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan.
She's said she would, if necessary, defy the party whip to oppose the scheme and Foreign Office minister David Lidington, the MP for nearby Aylesbury, has said he is "personally against it".
The transport secretary signalled that he had listened to concerns by diverting the line away from some historic sites - and away from the city of Lichfield, a seat represented by the Conservative MP Michael Fabricant - and there would be more tunnels and deeper cuttings to reduce noise.
But it won't be possible to assess whether any potential rebellion has hit the buffers until a full consultation on the route has been completed next year.
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Re: UK: controversy over new high-speed route
Battle in Tory heartlands over £30bn north-south rail link enters new phase
Transport secretary Philip Hammond launches consultation citing poll showing public support for network
* Dan Milmo
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011 19.29 GMT
A battle between the government and voters in the Tory heartlands over a £30bn north-south rail link enters a new phase as transport secretary Philip Hammond launches a consultation on the 250mph route.
Hammond will cite a poll showing five times as many people support the High Speed Two network as oppose it. Local opponents on the London-to-Birmingham phase of the project argue that it is misconceived. The consultation documents will outline the economic arguments in favour of the extended scheme, while giving further details on mitigating the noise impact on the first part of a network that passes through Conservative constituencies in Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire as well as the Chiltern Hills area of outstanding natural beauty. The London-to-Birmingham section is due to open in 2026.
"High Speed Two will be a piece of national infrastructure which will bring benefits to Britain as a whole," Hammond said. "Of course we will do everything we can to mitigate the impacts on areas like the Chilterns but projects like this have to be decided on the basis of the national interest and the overall net benefits it will bring to Britain." The consultation will feature proposals for extending the London-to-Birmingham link to Leeds and Manchester, although it will not include detailed route plans.
Opponents claim that the business case is flawed and makes unrealistic assumptions about passenger demand
A spokesman for the HS2 Action Alliance also derided estimates that the London-to-Birmingham route will create 40,000 jobs. "The Government claim that HS2 is going to create 40,000 new jobs is something for which there is no evidence. Even if it was true, at nearly £500,000 per job it must go down as one of the most expensive job creation schemes in history and yet again shows what a multibillion pound white elephant this project will be."
Transport secretary Philip Hammond launches consultation citing poll showing public support for network
* Dan Milmo
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011 19.29 GMT
A battle between the government and voters in the Tory heartlands over a £30bn north-south rail link enters a new phase as transport secretary Philip Hammond launches a consultation on the 250mph route.
Hammond will cite a poll showing five times as many people support the High Speed Two network as oppose it. Local opponents on the London-to-Birmingham phase of the project argue that it is misconceived. The consultation documents will outline the economic arguments in favour of the extended scheme, while giving further details on mitigating the noise impact on the first part of a network that passes through Conservative constituencies in Buckinghamshire, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire as well as the Chiltern Hills area of outstanding natural beauty. The London-to-Birmingham section is due to open in 2026.
"High Speed Two will be a piece of national infrastructure which will bring benefits to Britain as a whole," Hammond said. "Of course we will do everything we can to mitigate the impacts on areas like the Chilterns but projects like this have to be decided on the basis of the national interest and the overall net benefits it will bring to Britain." The consultation will feature proposals for extending the London-to-Birmingham link to Leeds and Manchester, although it will not include detailed route plans.
Opponents claim that the business case is flawed and makes unrealistic assumptions about passenger demand
A spokesman for the HS2 Action Alliance also derided estimates that the London-to-Birmingham route will create 40,000 jobs. "The Government claim that HS2 is going to create 40,000 new jobs is something for which there is no evidence. Even if it was true, at nearly £500,000 per job it must go down as one of the most expensive job creation schemes in history and yet again shows what a multibillion pound white elephant this project will be."
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John Ashworth
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Re: UK: controversy over new high-speed route
Leeds to Paris in four hours – but high-speed rail plan faces protests
Battles forecast over new track for second phase of network linking north with London via Birmingham
* Dan Milmo and Martin Wainwright
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 February 2011 19.51 GMT
The battleground over a £32bn high-speed rail network moved from the shires to the north after the government outlined the case for a second phase linking Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
Undaunted by a backlash in Tory heartlands over plans for a 225mph London-to-Birmingham line, the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, backed plans for joining it to a Y-shaped national network. The proposals include a link to the Channel tunnel rail route that would transport passengers in Manchester and Leeds to Paris in less than four hours without a London stopover.
However, the proposals for 200 miles of new track are likely to be of more immediate concern to the thousands of households that line the potential routes in Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said the economic arguments in favour of the northern extension of High Speed Two (HS2) could be drowned out by protests over blight. "As this proceeds, we are going to hear some very different voices from the north, arguing passionately about the beautiful local countryside," said Ralph Smyth, CPRE's senior transport campaigner.
"Take the Cheshire area around Wilmslow, which lies right on the likely route of the Birmingham-to-Manchester line. You have got very wealthy, very influential people there, who are not going to take happily to HS2 driving through."
Launching a consultation on a national high-speed network, Hammond was confident that the economic case would prove more powerful with residents in the north than it has in the home counties, with the full route forecast to produce a £44bn boost to the UK. "Ironically the further north we get the easier it will get. Once you get further away from the south-east people seem to understand more clearly the argument on jobs and growth."
According to the Department for Transport, the first phase alone would help create 40,000 jobs.
Hammond said the northern section could open in 2032, six years after the London-to-Birmingham route. A consultation on the specific route will start next year after detailed plans are published. It is understood that more than a dozen routes are under consideration for phase 2, which will be reduced to a shortlist by early 2012. If the proposals receive the green light, journey times to Manchester and Leeds from London will be reduced from more than two hours to 73 and 80 minutes respectively.
Sources said planning for the Birmingham-to-Leeds section has proved particularly challenging, due to the hilly landscape and the number of small mining communities and former collieries dotted along the potential route. "It is a complicated landscape," said one expert.
Hammond said ramblers in the Peak District would not be disturbed by bullet trains tearing through an area of outstanding natural beauty, with the Birmingham-to-Leeds line likely to pass between Derby and Nottingham, and to the east of one of Britain's most stunning national parks. However, the Chiltern Hills, another area of outstanding natural beauty, have been less fortunate and the first phase of the network will pass through the area when the line opens in 2026.
Hammond said environmentally friendly amendments to the London-to-Birmingham route published in the consultation, such as deeper cuttings, would be repeated when the northern extension is drafted: "We will be doing exactly the same as we are doing in the Chilterns. We will work with communities and engineers to minimise the effect on sensitive landscapes."
The Department for Transport is confident the rail route will challenge one of the major bastions of domestic aviation – the London to Scotland route – with a forecast journey time of three-and-a-half hours. Rail would take half of the air-rail market, the consultation argued. The current figure stands at 20%. Under the proposals high-speed trains will leave the network at Manchester and Leeds and travel to Scotland on conventional lines.
The consultation argues that high-speed rail is the obvious solution to a looming capacity shortage on England's major rail routes, pointing out that passengers are already forced to stand up on peak-hour services on those lines.
The document states: "Long-term forecasts have been developed on demand growth on these three main north-south lines out of London which connect the majority of Britain's major cities. These forecasts look forward to the early 2040s and show that, even allowing for a range of enhancements to these lines, crowding levels on long-distance services will continue to rise."
However, the debates over blight and economics are likely to rumble on. Critics of the programme pounced on revised figures in the consultation, which showed that the economic benefit of the first phase would equate to £2 for every £1 spent, instead of the £2.70 that was forecast last year.
"That is mediocre value for money by official Treasury standards," said Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation.
A government source said that earlier estimates had been based on "fantastical" forecasts by the Labour government.
Battles forecast over new track for second phase of network linking north with London via Birmingham
* Dan Milmo and Martin Wainwright
* guardian.co.uk, Monday 28 February 2011 19.51 GMT
The battleground over a £32bn high-speed rail network moved from the shires to the north after the government outlined the case for a second phase linking Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
Undaunted by a backlash in Tory heartlands over plans for a 225mph London-to-Birmingham line, the transport secretary, Philip Hammond, backed plans for joining it to a Y-shaped national network. The proposals include a link to the Channel tunnel rail route that would transport passengers in Manchester and Leeds to Paris in less than four hours without a London stopover.
However, the proposals for 200 miles of new track are likely to be of more immediate concern to the thousands of households that line the potential routes in Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Derbyshire. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said the economic arguments in favour of the northern extension of High Speed Two (HS2) could be drowned out by protests over blight. "As this proceeds, we are going to hear some very different voices from the north, arguing passionately about the beautiful local countryside," said Ralph Smyth, CPRE's senior transport campaigner.
"Take the Cheshire area around Wilmslow, which lies right on the likely route of the Birmingham-to-Manchester line. You have got very wealthy, very influential people there, who are not going to take happily to HS2 driving through."
Launching a consultation on a national high-speed network, Hammond was confident that the economic case would prove more powerful with residents in the north than it has in the home counties, with the full route forecast to produce a £44bn boost to the UK. "Ironically the further north we get the easier it will get. Once you get further away from the south-east people seem to understand more clearly the argument on jobs and growth."
According to the Department for Transport, the first phase alone would help create 40,000 jobs.
Hammond said the northern section could open in 2032, six years after the London-to-Birmingham route. A consultation on the specific route will start next year after detailed plans are published. It is understood that more than a dozen routes are under consideration for phase 2, which will be reduced to a shortlist by early 2012. If the proposals receive the green light, journey times to Manchester and Leeds from London will be reduced from more than two hours to 73 and 80 minutes respectively.
Sources said planning for the Birmingham-to-Leeds section has proved particularly challenging, due to the hilly landscape and the number of small mining communities and former collieries dotted along the potential route. "It is a complicated landscape," said one expert.
Hammond said ramblers in the Peak District would not be disturbed by bullet trains tearing through an area of outstanding natural beauty, with the Birmingham-to-Leeds line likely to pass between Derby and Nottingham, and to the east of one of Britain's most stunning national parks. However, the Chiltern Hills, another area of outstanding natural beauty, have been less fortunate and the first phase of the network will pass through the area when the line opens in 2026.
Hammond said environmentally friendly amendments to the London-to-Birmingham route published in the consultation, such as deeper cuttings, would be repeated when the northern extension is drafted: "We will be doing exactly the same as we are doing in the Chilterns. We will work with communities and engineers to minimise the effect on sensitive landscapes."
The Department for Transport is confident the rail route will challenge one of the major bastions of domestic aviation – the London to Scotland route – with a forecast journey time of three-and-a-half hours. Rail would take half of the air-rail market, the consultation argued. The current figure stands at 20%. Under the proposals high-speed trains will leave the network at Manchester and Leeds and travel to Scotland on conventional lines.
The consultation argues that high-speed rail is the obvious solution to a looming capacity shortage on England's major rail routes, pointing out that passengers are already forced to stand up on peak-hour services on those lines.
The document states: "Long-term forecasts have been developed on demand growth on these three main north-south lines out of London which connect the majority of Britain's major cities. These forecasts look forward to the early 2040s and show that, even allowing for a range of enhancements to these lines, crowding levels on long-distance services will continue to rise."
However, the debates over blight and economics are likely to rumble on. Critics of the programme pounced on revised figures in the consultation, which showed that the economic benefit of the first phase would equate to £2 for every £1 spent, instead of the £2.70 that was forecast last year.
"That is mediocre value for money by official Treasury standards," said Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation.
A government source said that earlier estimates had been based on "fantastical" forecasts by the Labour government.