Aktivister ockuperar tunnel i London – i protest mot tåg

High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway system in the United Kingdom, with its first phase under construction and future stages awaiting approval. HS2 will be the second major high-speed rail line in Britain; the first is High Speed 1 (HS1), which connects London to the Channel Tunnel and was opened in the mid-2000s. Upon completion, with a new "Y"-shaped network of track and a design speed of 360 km/h (225 mph), the new railway will link London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.High Speed 2 will provide upgrades to the terminal stations of London Euston, Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds, whereas Birmingham will be served by a new terminus known as Birmingham Curzon Street. Phase 1 will create a new high-speed line between London and Birmingham, and Phase 2 will create two branches north from Birmingham on either side of the Pennines. Once completed, sixteen trains per hour are planned to use the line either wholly or in part. The project has been subject to both support and opposition: supporters of the project claim that HS2 will provide increased capacity and reliability to combat rising passenger numbers; opponents of the project claim that the project is neither environmentally or financially sustainable. In response to criticism of the project, in 2019 the government ordered a review of the project chaired by the project's former chairman, Douglas Oakervee; this recommended that the entire project proceed as planned. The costs of HS2 were estimated in 2010 to be between £30.9 billion and £36 billion; in 2015, this estimate was combined with the cost of rolling stock to give a budget of £56.6 billion. Oakervee's review in 2019 estimated the project would cost between £80.7 billion and £88.7 billion. After a judicial review on environmental grounds initiated by television presenter Chris Packham failed, construction on the line began in 2020.