Policy paper

Speed review: change of HS2 railway specification and scope

Assessment of changes to the HS2 railway specification to reduce cost, risk and delivery time, including aligning speeds and systems with European standards.

• From: High Speed Two (HS2) Limited
• Published: 19 May 2026

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

Change of HS2 railway specification and scope

PDF, 231 KB, 4 pages

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Details

Following a commission from the Department for Transport (DfT), High-Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd have considered the impact of simplifying the railway’s operational specification on the cost, schedule, risk and benefits of the HS2 programme.

HS2 Ltd, working closely with DfT officials and other delivery partners, have assessed the impacts of aligning the HS2 specification more closely to those currently in operation on other high-speed networks in Europe and High-Speed 1.

The initial findings are complete and this document outlines the proposed package of changes.

Published 19 May 2026