The concept of HS2 was that all major cities covered would have a city centre HS2 station. Liverpool, along with London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, was envisaged to have a city centre HS2 station. The scheme was cut down to only three provincial city centres served directly by HS2, two being on phase 2. The preliminary route for Phase Two was announced on 28 January 2013. It is envisaged construction on Phase Two will start in 2022 with completion by 2032.
Birmingham to Manchester (phases 2a & 2b)
Birmingham to Crewe (phase 2a)
Birmingham to Crewe is phase 2a, which is proposed to be built before phase 2b, simultaneously with phase 1. HS2 will pass through Staffordshire and Cheshire, in a tunnel under Crewe station but not stopping at Crewe railway station. However, the HS2 line will be linked to the West Coast Main Line via a grade-separated junction just south of Crewe, enabling "classic compatible" trains exiting the high-speed line to call at the existing Crewe station.
High-speed Crewe hub (phase 2a)
David Higgins the ex chairman of High Speed Two Limited proposed an addition to phase two, a high-speed hub at Crewe to take advantage of, and have access to, the six classic lines radiating from the existing Crewe junction. Many more regions and cities would have overall superior journey times being accessed with a combination of HS2 and classic lines. The hub is a part of phase two, but Higgins proposed the hub and line from Birmingham to Crewe should be constructed simultaneously with phase one. Crewe is currently a major rail junction with six radiating classic lines from the junction to: Scotland/Liverpool, Birmingham/London, Chester, Shrewsbury, Stoke and Manchester. The high-speed hub is to be sited to the south of the current Crewe station. The intention is for high-speed trains to run off the northbound HS2 line into the high-speed hub and out onto a number of classic lines without passing through the bottleneck of the existing Crewe station, keeping line-speeds as fast as possible. A new high-speed rail station is proposed as a part of the hub. On 17 July 2017, this was approved by the Government and a possible HS2 service to Stoke was also announced.
A station is planned to serve Manchester Airport on the southern boundary of Manchester. It will be located next to Junction 5 of the M56 motorway on the northern side of the airport and approximately north-west of Manchester Airport railway station. The two station are not connected. An airport station was recommended by local authorities during the consultation stage. The government agreed in January 2013 for an airport station but agreed only on the basis that private investment was involved, such as funding from the Manchester Airports Group to build the station. The average journey from London Euston to Manchester Airport would be 59 minutes.
The route will continue from the airport into Manchester city centre via a bored tunnel under the dense urban districts of south Manchester before surfacing at Ardwick. The tunnel will be the longest rail tunnel to be built in the United Kingdom, surpassing the High Speed 1 tunnel completed in 2004. It is anticipated that the stretch from Rostherne in Cheshire to Ardwick will take up to 7 years to construct. The 7.6 mile twin-bore tunnel will be at an average depth of 33 metres and trains will travel at through the tunnel. The diameter size of the tunnel is dependent on the train speed and length of the tunnel. It is envisaged both tunnels will be, as an 'absolute minimum', at least 7.25 metres in diameter to accommodate the high speed trains. Up to fifteen sites were put forward including Sportcity, Pomona Island, expanding Deansgate railway station and re-configuring the disused grade-II listed Manchester Central terminal station building back into a station. Three final sites made the long list: Manchester Piccadilly station, Salford Central station and a newly built station at Salford Middlewood Locks. Three approaches were considered, one via the M62, one via the River Mersey and the other through south Manchester. Both Manchester and Salford City Council recommended routing High Speed 2 to Manchester Piccadilly to maximise economic potential and connectivity rather than building a new station at a greater cost and which could be isolated from existing transport links. HS2 trains will terminate at an upgraded Manchester Piccadilly station. At least four new platforms will be built to accommodate the new high-speed trains in addition to the two platforms which are currently planned as part of the Northern Hub proposal. It is envisaged Platform 1 under the existing listed train shed will also be converted to a fifth HS2 platform to reduce cost. However at 242 metres long, it is the shortest platform at the station and falls short of the 400 metre platform required to accommodate High Speed trains. The HS2 concourse will be connected to the existing concourse at Piccadilly. HS2 will reduce the average journey time from central Manchester to central London from 2 hours 8 minutes to 1 hour 8 minutes.
Birmingham to Leeds (phase 2b)
A new station in the East Midlands is proposed, which may be a parkway station, to serve Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. The Derbyshire and Nottingham Chamber supported high-speed rail going to the East Midlands but was concerned that a parkway station instead of centrally located city stations would result in no overall net benefit in journey times to existing services. East Midlands Parkway railway station was recently constructed on the Midland Main Line south of Derby and Nottingham. HS2 would continue north to a station at Sheffield railway station in South Yorkshire, terminating in West Yorkshire in central Leeds with a new station called Leeds New Lane. This new station will link with Leeds railway station by a walkway with the possibility of moving walkways.
