The proposal to route High Speed Two through Ruislip is causing widespread local concern. Our Association has responded vigorously to the public consultation on this contentious proposal, as have many of our members. This page will be regularly updated as the proposal progresses.
The decision to proceed with HS2 with extra tunnels, including one from Northolt to West Ruislip, was announced on 10 January 2012. We have not yet had time to study the changes in any great detail. We do know that there will now be a 2.75 mile (4km) tunnel for most of the route through Ruislip, which appears from studying the maps to start at Northolt, before South Ruislip Station, and to end beyond West Ruislip Station. This tunnel will be a welcome reprieve for many concerned residents and businesses in that area, though land for tunnel vents will still be needed, and there are concerns about possible vibration or subsidence if any houses are above or near the tunnel. Unfortunately it looks like the plan remains to build a rail viaduct over / through Hillingdon Outdoor Activities Centre.
At the moment only Phase One, the London to Birmingham part of the route, is being planned to be built, with a spur route to Heathrow being included in the future consultation for Phase Two, where the route would continue north of Birmingham in a Y shape up to Manchester and Leeds. Phase One still has to be agreed in Parliament by way of a Hybrid Bill before the many years of construction and disruption would start. There is already talk of more petitioning, and a possible judicial review, by various opponents to the scheme. If the project does run according to the proposed government timescale then the London to Birmingham stretch of the line would be ready for passenger trains running by 2026.Whilst the consultation period for Phase One closed last July, lobbying by groups both for and against the HS2 project continued unabated throughout the autumn and winter of 2011. In October the Transport Select Committee published their report on HS2.
Hillingdon and Ruislip Against HS2 visited number 10 Downing Street to submit their petition of over 108,000 signatures. Many other organisations also submitted petitions.
A lively parliamentary debate took place on the 13th October in the House of Commons, and in November MPs Nick Hurd and John Randall accompanied four Hillingdon Children from Ruislip when they submitted their Children’s Petition to Number 10 Downing Street. During that month Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for Transport, met with MPs to discuss HS2, and there was also a Lobby Day for all interested parties including MPs, action groups and members of the public.HS2 Ltd has stated that a consultation regarding blight will take place “during Spring 2012”. It has also said it will be consulting with community groups along the route, and will set up community forums, planning forums and an environment forum. Once we have more details about these we will let you know.
Our HS2 Working Group, which is open to any RRA member, is being asked to consider the Government’s decision in detail, so that it can advise our Executive how to move forward in response to the decision.
The written statement by Justine Greening, the Secretary of State for Transport, released on 10 January 2012, can be found here. On the Department for Transport website you will be able to find all the revised maps of the whole route, showing where the extra tunnels will be, as well as proposed new bridges and road diversions.
The decision on whether to proceed with the proposed route is now expected in early 2012 rather than December 2011, in order for Ms Greening to have further time to consider all the comments and implications. There is talk of more data being needed about the environmental impact, and of extra funding perhaps being found to provide more tunnels.
here if you wish to read it. Hillingdon Council held a meeting about HS2, which was open to any Hillingdon resident who had not yet been to any of the council's previous HS2 meetings. You did not need to live in a post code area near to the proposed route this time, in order to be able to attend.
The HS2 meeting was held on Thursday 14 July at
Nick Hurd, MP, is holding some special surgeries for residents who are concerned about HS2. These will be in Harefield on Friday 24th June from 5pm and Ickenham on Saturday 25th June from 10am.
For more information on the venue and to book an appointment please contact Ann Taggart on 01923 822 876 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
For residents in the south of our area John Randall, MP, can be contacted on 020 7219 6885.
Details of both MP’s websites can be found in our Links section, via the drop down box.At the RRA Executive Committee meeting on 1stJune 2011 the reports and findings of the RRA HS2 working group were discussed. It was then unanimously agreed that RRA will oppose the current HS2 proposals.
We wish to thank the members of the working group for their time and hard work in creating very useful material and evidence for us to consider in an objective manner.
No doubt HS2 will be a discussion topic during the Open Forum at our AGM on Thursday 30 June at Winston Churchill Hall. See "What's New" on the Home page for details of the AGM.
All submissions that were sent to the Transport Select Committee are available to view on-line.
All Freedom of Information Act requests to HS2 Ltd are available to view on-line.
RRA letter to Transport Select Committee May 2011 
