High Speed 2 letter to stakeholders
| Publisher: | Department for Transport |
| Publication type: | Instructional |
| Published date: | 27 July 2011 |
| Mode/topic: | Rail, High speed rail |
A decision on the proposal to build a High Speed Rail line will be made by the Secretary of State when he has considered all the responses to the consultation.
The consultation closes on 29 July 2011 and a decision is expected by the end of the year. It would be improper to pre-empt the Secretary of State’s decision following consultation.
However, if the decision is taken to proceed, it is prudent for HS2 Ltd to be in the best possible position to enable it to develop the necessary work to meet the timetables set out during the consultation. Therefore the Secretary of State has agreed that pending his decision HS2 Ltd may begin the process to procure the initial contracts required to start this work, as the procurement of such contracts must follow strict rules and takes six months. However, the Secretary of State has made it quite clear that the award of such contracts would be conditional on a decision to go ahead with the proposal.
More details are available in a letter to stakeholders and in the notice that will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
