A Bill to make provision for a railway between a junction with Phase 2a of High Speed 2 south of Crewe in Cheshire and Manchester Piccadilly Station; for a railway between Hoo Green in Cheshire and a junction with the West Coast Main Line at Bamfurlong, south of Wigan; and for connected purposes.
House of Commons
Heidi AlexanderLabour (Co-op)
15 May 2026
May contain errors — check source documents for definitive information.
The High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill is a private (hybrid) bill to authorise a new high‑speed railway from a Crewe junction to Manchester Piccadilly, plus a connecting line from Hoo Green to Bamfurlong near Wigan, with related works and protections. It uses the private bill petitioning process and environmental assessments, and has been amended by an Additional Provision (AP2) that updates the route and introduces an environmental-permitting framework; AP2 faced procedural issues, and the bill is now reintroduced in the Commons for further committee scrutiny after carry-overs.
The bill is currently reintroduced in the Commons (May 2026) after carry-overs, with committee stage to follow. It previously reached the second reading (2022) and an instruction stage (2024) and includes AP2 updates that attracted Standing Orders scrutiny.
In 2022 the bill passed its second reading by 205 Aye to 6 No. In 2024 the House backed an Instruction (No. 3) by 323 Aye to 7 No. The votes show cross‑party support, with Conservatives, Reform UK and DUP among those voting in favour; other parties’ votes are recorded as mixed or not recorded in the provided data.
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Based on 2 recorded votes • Sorted by % Aye
In accordance with the carry-over motion agreed by the House on 20 June 2022, the Bill was reintroduced to the House of Commons in the new Parliament on 25 July 2024. It was deemed to have received its Second Reading and was committed again to a Select Committee. The Bill is in the same form as it was at the end of the previous Parliament, and instructions to the Committee agreed by the House continue to apply.
Membership of the Committee and details of the Committee’s future programme will be announced in due course.
The High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill was first introduced to the House of Commons on 24 January 2022. As a hybrid bill it was considered for compliance with the Private Business Standing Orders by the Examiners of Petitions for Private Bills on 24 February 2022.
In accordance with a carry-over motion agreed on 25 April 2022, the Bill was reintroduced in the new Session of Parliament (2022-23) on 11 May 2022, and received its Second Reading on 20 June 2022. As well as the motion on second reading, the House agreed a number of other related motions: a money resolution; a motion committing the Bill to a Select Committee; two instruction motions, requiring the Committee to act in accordance with the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 and to amend the Bill to remove a specified provision; a carry over motion; and a motion providing for a salary to be paid to the Chair of the Committee.
After Second Reading, the petitioning period commenced, during which time individuals, groups and organisations which are directly and specially affected by the Bill were able to submit a petition against the Bill outlining their objections to it and what they wished to be done to reduce or mitigate their concerns. 155 petitions were received.
On 13 December 2022, the House of Commons agreed a motion to appoint Members to the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill Select Committee. The Committee’s role was to hear from all petitioners with the right to be heard before reporting the Bill, along with any amendments, to the House.
The webpage for the Select Committee on the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill can be found here: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/597/high-speed-rail-crewe-manchester-bill-select-committee-commons/. The webpage contains details of the Committee’s work, membership, and publications, including petitions received, transcripts of hearings with petitioners, and the Committee’s published reports.
In October 2023, the then Prime Minister announced that the Government would be ‘cancelling’ the building of the HS2 project beyond Birmingham. The Committee therefore agreed to pause its programme of work while awaiting further information from the Government or instruction from the House of Commons regarding the future of the Bill and the work of the Committee.
The Bill was reintroduced in the new Session of Parliament (2023-24) on 8 November 2023, in accordance with the carry-over motion agreed by the House on 20 June 2022.
On 21 May 2024 the House of Commons agreed a further instruction motion requiring the Select Committee to make further amendments to the Bill.
The dissolution of Parliament took place on 30 May 2024, and all business in the House of Commons came to an end. However, the carry over motion agreed by the House in relation to this Bill on 20 June 2022 meant that the Bill could be reintroduced in the new Parliament.
