Latest news

Over the past few months, we have introduced a number of improvements to the HS2 website and how we share information with you. As part of this work, we have now moved the contents of the HS2 in Warwickshire website to the In your area section of the HS2 website.

We will continue to provide local webpages and publish information about the progress of the railway in your area.

We have also published local community landing pages for each section of the route. These provide information about the HS2 route within each area.

We will continue to produce regular updates about the project, including notifications of our upcoming works, how it’s being constructed and what we’re doing to make it less disruptive.

If you would like to continue to receive updates from us and haven't already registered, please sign up directly at engagement.hs2.org.uk/join-mailing-list . We will ask you to confirm your email address as part of the sign-up process.

The personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation and only used for the purposes for which you have provided it. Find out more about what we will do to keep your information safe in our Personal information charter .

We will no longer use this platform or Commonplace to publish information or issue emails to you. This website has now been archived. You can still access the materials that were originally available on this website by visiting the HS2 in Warwickshire overview page .

Contact us if you have any questions

If you have any questions about these changes or would like some help signing up to receive email updates from us please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team, available all day, every day on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

On Tuesday 10 August , we informed you that possibly a temporary, weekend road closure would need to be installed along sections of the B4438 and A452 on Saturday 21 August and Sunday 22 August 2021. This weekend closure will no longer take place and our next weekend closure will take place in October 2021. We will confirm the details of these traffic measures in due course.

To continue to remodel and improve sections of the existing road network in the area, we will install some changes to the existing traffic rerouting around Northway Island which commenced on Monday 19 July .

From Monday 23 August to late October 2021, one of the short sections of Northway Island that was closed on Monday 19 July will reopen, whilst the other section remains closed. Depending on your direction of travel, you may be redirected from Northway Island, along the B4438, and back. You will still be able to access all routes and direction of travel along the B4438, A452 and Northway will be unaffected.

A new direction of travel around Northway Island will be installed following this phase of our programme. We’ll inform you of any changes to the direction of travel around Northway Island before they take effect.

On occasion, temporary, off-peak single lane closures will be installed between Monday 23 August and late October 2021 around the longabout, on the way to the NEC, and along short sections of the B4438.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

Please also note that no further news alerts will be sent from this site.

Join the HS2 mailing list to continue to receive updates from HS2 about the project

We will no longer be using this website or Commonplace to issue email updates to you. Instead, we are asking that you sign up to receive information from HS2 directly. We will continue to produce regular updates about the project, including notifications of our upcoming works, how it’s being constructed and what we’re doing to make it less disruptive.

If you would like to continue to receive updates from HS2 you can sign up for email notifications at engagement.hs2.org.uk/join-mailing-list . We will ask you to confirm your email address as part of the sign-up process.

The personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation and only used for the purposes for which you have provided it.

Find out more about what we will do to keep your information safe in our Personal information charter .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We are remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area and creating new routes on HS2 land. These road improvements will ensure that when the future station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose. Upon completion, a new T-junction will replace Northway Island. A new ‘longabout’ is already in operation outside the Holiday Inn Express NEC, on the way to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

We started the creation of the new T-junction in April 2021 . To enable us to continue to connect parts of the existing road network to the new routes we create, a series of weekend road closures will be installed in 2021 near Northway Island.

To carry out this programme safely, we have previously informed you that we will be installing a temporary, weekend road closure on short sections of the B4438 (northbound) and A452 (both directions), near Northway Island, from 8pm on Friday 13 August through to 5am on Monday 16 August. A signed diversion route will be in place for road users during the weekend road closure. The relevant information regarding this closure is available in this notification . We may need to repeat this closure on the following weekend from 6am on Saturday 21st of August, until 8pm on Sunday 22nd of August. The closure extents and diversion should be the same as the weekend of the 13 August, but we will confirm the exact details on Monday 16 August .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

The Funds for Phase One, independently administered by community charity Groundwork UK, support urban and rural, community, environmental and business projects. For more information on Groundwork and the funds, including how to apply, visit https://hs2funds.org.uk/ . You can also watch our short videos which explain how to best demonstrate that your project meets the criteria for the Community, Environment or Business Funds.

If you have any questions about the Community and Business Funds, HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

We have published local community landing pages for each section of the route between London, the West Midlands and Crewe. These provide information about the HS2 route within each area. Over the coming weeks we will be adding further pages and information to each area.

We are now in the final stages of this transition which is expected to be completed by mid-August, however we will write to you again to confirm this nearer the time.

We will no longer be using this website or Commonplace to issue email updates to you. Instead, we are asking that you sign up to receive information from HS2 directly. We will continue to produce regular updates about the project, including notifications of our upcoming works, how it’s being constructed and what we’re doing to make it less disruptive.

If you would like to continue to receive updates from HS2 you can sign up for email notifications at engagement.hs2.org.uk/join-mailing-list . We will ask you to confirm your email address as part of the sign-up process.

The personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation and only used for the purposes for which you have provided it.

Find out more about what we will do to keep your information safe in our Personal information charter .

Contact us if you have any questions

If you have any questions about these changes or would like some help signing up to receive email updates from us please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team, available all day, every day on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

For further information, please see our newsletter: https://www.hs2.org.uk/work-items/hs2-works-notification-wormleighton-to-southam-newsletter-august-2021/

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

For more information please see the following notification

As part of our preparation works for future construction of the HS2 Interchange Station and railway route , we are undertaking various environmental surveys in the area. To carry out our surveys safely, we will install traffic measures when necessary.

Subject to obtaining the relevant consents, we will install temporary, phased overnight lane closures from 7pm to 6.30am on Thursday 12 August and Monday 16 August, and from 7pm to 12.30am on Thursday 26 August and Wednesday 1 September, along sections of the A452 and A45 near Stonebridge Island.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

Temporary, weekend road closure on short sections of the B4438 and A452 from Friday 13 August to Monday 16 August 2021

We are remodeling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area and creating new routes on HS2 land. These road improvements will ensure that when the future station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose. Upon completion, a new T-junction will replace Northway Island. A new ‘longabout’ is already in operation outside the Holiday Inn Express NEC, on the way to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

We started the creation of the new T-junction in April 2021 . To enable us to continue to connect parts of the existing road network, to the new routes we create, a series of weekend road closures will be installed in 2021 near Northway Island.

To carry out this programme safely, we will install a temporary, weekend road closure on short sections of the B4438 (northbound) and A452 (both directions), near Northway Island, from 8pm on Friday 13 August through to 5am on Monday 16 August. A signed diversion route will be in place for road users during the weekend road closure.

Throughout the closure, there will be temporary changes to access to and from Birmingham Business Park off Northway Island.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

There are local community landing pages which have been published for each section of the route between London, the West Midlands and Crewe, providing information about the HS2 route within each area. We will be adding further pages and information to each area in the coming weeks.

We are now in the final stages of this transition which is expected to be completed by mid-August, however, we will write to you again to confirm this nearer the time.

We will no longer be using this website or Commonplace to issue email updates to you. Instead, we are asking that you sign up to receive information from HS2 directly. We will continue to produce regular updates about the project, including notifications of our upcoming works, how it’s being constructed and what we’re doing to make it less disruptive.

If you would like to continue to receive updates from HS2 you can sign up for email notifications at engagement.hs2.org.uk/join-mailing-list . We will ask you to confirm your email address as part of the sign-up process.

The personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation and only used for the purposes for which you have provided it.

Find out more about what we will do to keep your information safe in our Personal information charter .

Contact us if you have any questions

If you have any questions about these changes or would like some help signing up to receive email updates from us please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team, available all day, every day on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

For more information please see this notification

There are a number of HS2 related works coming up in the North Warwickshire area over the next few weeks. For more information, including maps and the notification, please follow this link to the interactive map

These include work near:

Middleton

Bodymoor Heath

A4091

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

As part of our preparation works for future construction of the HS2 Interchange Station and railway route , we are undertaking roadside vegetation clearance in the area. To carry out our works safely, we will install traffic measures when necessary.

Subject to obtaining the relevant consents, we will install a temporary, hard shoulder closure along the M42 northbound from 9.30am to 3.30pm between Monday 2 August to Friday 6 August between junctions 6 and 7.

The map below shows the location of the hard shoulder closure in orange.

This schedule is subject to change depending on site and weather conditions, gaining the appropriate consents and evolving measures to combat coronavirus. We’ll keep you informed of any adjustments at: www.hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We are remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area and creating new routes on HS2 land. These road improvements will ensure that when the future station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose. Upon completion, a new T-junction will replace Northway Island. A new ‘longabout’ is already in operation outside the Holiday Inn Express NEC, on the way to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

To date, we have connected parts of the existing road network to some of the new routes we have created, and installed new pedestrian footpaths, kerb lines and central reservations in the area. We started the creation of the new T-junction in April 2021 . This programme will continue with some changes to the existing traffic rerouting around Northway Island which commenced on Monday 24 May .

From Monday 19 July to late August 2021, two short sections of Northway Island will be closed. Depending on your direction of travel, road users will no longer be able to travel around the whole of the Island and you may be redirected from Northway Island, along the A452 or B4438, and back.

You will still be able to access all routes, there will just be a short diversion from some parts of Northway Island. Direction of travel along the B4438, A452 and Northway will be unaffected.

A new direction of travel around Northway Island will be installed following this phase of our programme. We’ll inform you of any changes to the direction of travel around Northway Island before they take effect.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

On Sunday 18 July, we will also install temporary traffic lights from 10am to 1pm on a short section of the A452 off Northway Island.

The map below shows the location of the temporary traffic lights.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

As part of our preparation works for future construction of the HS2 Interchange Station and railway route , we are undertaking various environmental surveys in the area. To carry out our surveys safely, we will install traffic measures when necessary.

Subject to obtaining the relevant consents, we will install temporary, phased overnight lane closures from 7pm to 12.30am between Monday 26 July to Friday 30 July, and on Monday 2 August, along sections of the A446, A452 and A45 near Stonebridge Island.

These traffic measures will be carried out in conjunction with a new direction of travel for road users around Northway Island, which will commence on Monday 19 July .

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

Also, earlier in the month , we informed you that we would install temporary, phased lane closures from 9.30am to 3.30pm each day between Monday 12 July to Thursday 15 July, and Monday 19 July to Tuesday 20 July, along sections of the A446, A452 and A45 near Stonebridge Island. We will now extend this programme from Monday 12 July to Friday 16 July.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

To mark the Council for British Archaeology's Festival of Archaeology , we are holding a series of free online events so you can get involved and find out more about what treasures are being unearthed as we build the country's new high speed railway. The Festival of Archaeology runs from July 17 - August 1, shining a light on our past and how our ancestors lived.

Subjects we will be covering in the free online 'webinars' include:

We will also be holding our fourth weekend of open days at our Field Museum at St Mary's Church in Stoke Mandeville on Saturday 24 July and Sunday 25 July.

Inside a specially constructed tent the size of a football pitch, archaeologists working on our behalf are currently excavating the remains of the former parish church of St. Mary the Virgin. This is a once in a generation opportunity to excavate the ruins of a medieval church and churchyard. Inside the museum you can ascend the viewing platform for a bird’s eye view of ongoing excavations, as well as displays, films and finds to explore the history of St. Mary’s Church and the amazing archaeological discoveries in the surrounding area.

We’d love to welcome you onto site to explore this fascinating excavation, where you can learn about life and death in Stoke Mandeville over more than 800 years.

Tickets are available to book from 10am on Tuesday July 13 and booking will close at 5pm on Thursday July 22 .

Detailed joining instructions including our Health and Safety statement will be sent to all registered attendees closer to the time.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what we are doing through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel.

This is the fourth in a series of webinars focussing on Building HS2’s West Midlands Stations. The next webinar will be held in early autumn. Please keep an eye on our events pages at hs2.org.uk/events for more details.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

Last month, we informed you that we would install temporary 24-hour traffic lights on a short section of the A452 from Monday 28 June to Tuesday 6 July. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, these traffic lights will now be installed on the A452 until Friday 9 July.

These traffic measures will be carried out in conjunction with a new direction of travel for road users around Northway Island, which commenced on Monday 24 May .

The map below outlines the location of the extended temporary traffic lights.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We are remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area and creating new routes on HS2 land. These road improvements will ensure that when the future station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose. Upon completion, a new T-junction will replace Northway Island. A new ‘longabout’ is already in operation outside the Holiday Inn Express NEC, on the way to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

To date, we have connected parts of the existing road network to some of the new routes we have created, and installed new pedestrian footpaths, kerb lines and central reservations in the area. We started the creation of the new T-junction in April 2021 . This programme will continue with some changes to the existing traffic rerouting around Northway Island which commenced on Monday 24 May .

From Monday 19 July to late August 2021, two short sections of Northway Island will be closed. Depending on your direction of travel, road users will no longer be able to travel around the whole of the Island and you may be redirected from Northway Island, along the A452 or B4438, and back.

You will still be able to access all routes, there will just be a short diversion from some parts of Northway Island. Direction of travel along the B4438, A452 and Northway will be unaffected.

A new direction of travel around Northway Island will be installed following this phase of our programme. We’ll inform you of any changes to the direction of travel around Northway Island before they take effect.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We are developing our plans for the River Cole Viaducts and the Chattle Hill Structure, both of which are Key Design Elements (KDEs) of the new railway in Warwickshire. We are holding an online information event or 'webinar' to share our plans with the community, have produced virtual exhibition boards and are asking for your views in an online questionnaire.

River Cole Viaducts

The section of the HS2 route where the River Cole viaducts are located is known as the Delta Junction. The Delta Junction is a triangular section of line where the HS2 route curves west towards Birmingham and runs north towards Crewe and beyond. It is located within the Cole Valley Landscape Character Area.

Chattle Hill Structure

The Chattle Hill Structure will allow the HS2 main line to cross over the A446 Lichfield Road, letting vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians pass underneath. A continuous noise barrier will be provided along the east of the track to reduce noise levels for local residents.

Give us your views

Before construction starts, we are seeking your views on some specific details of the two strcutures, including:

Our approach when constructing the structures

Landscape and ecology aspects in the surrounding areas

We would like you to tell us what you think about our proposals for the River Cole Viaducts and the Chattle Hill Structure.

We will be holding an online information event or 'webinar' to discuss our plans for the River Cole Viaducts and the Chattle Hill Strcuture on Thursday 8 July, from 6.30-8pm .

The closing date for the questionnaire is Wednesday 28 July 2021.

We will carefully consider your views as part of our ongoing design process for the River Cole Viaducts and the Chattle Hill Strcuture.

Our feedback will be published on the HS2 community website: www.hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk

We will also share what we’ve learned with the local planning authority and Warwickshire County Council to help them assess our final designs once we have submitted them for their approval later this year.

KDEs are structures along the route of the new railway that have been recognised to be important. This could be due to their size, proximity to stakeholders or their location within sensitive areas. The design for the viaduct has been developed with consideration for technical and structural requirements, as well as the impact on its surroundings.

A viaduct is a type of bridge, made up of multiple spans and connecting two points of terrain. On this project they will carry the high speed railway across valleys, rivers, roads and flood plains. Modern high speed trains travel at around four times the speed of Victorian trains so they require a flatter, straighter track, passing over and under the natural landscape. Modern viaducts have to cope with large longitudinal forces due to the braking and traction of high speed trains. They require stiff and strong supports, known as piers, to transfer the braking load forces from the train, which can be as much as a 770 tonnes load, to the foundations.

For more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

KDEs are structures along the route of the new railway that have been recognised to be important. This could be due to their size, proximity to stakeholders or their location within sensitive areas. The design for the viaduct has been developed with consideration for technical and structural requirements, as well as the impact on its surroundings.

A viaduct is a type of bridge, made up of multiple spans and connecting two points of terrain. On this project they will carry the high speed railway across valleys, rivers, roads and flood plains. Modern high speed trains travel at around four times the speed of Victorian trains so they require a flatter, straighter track, passing over and under the natural landscape. Modern viaducts have to cope with large longitudinal forces due to the braking and traction of high speed trains. They require stiff and strong supports, known as piers, to transfer the braking load forces from the train, which can be as much as a 770 tonnes load, to the foundations.

For more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

As part of our preparation works for future construction of the HS2 Interchange Station and railway route, we are undertaking roadside vegetation clearance and environmental surveys, and remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area . To safely carry out our works, we will install traffic measures when necessary.

Last month , we informed you that we would install temporary 24-hour traffic lights on a short section of the A452 from Monday 24 May for one week. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, this work was postponed. We will now install these temporary 24-hour traffic lights on a short section of the A452 from Monday 28 June to Tuesday 6 July.

Subject to obtaining the relevant consents, we will also install the following traffic measures in July:

• Temporary lane closures from 9.30am to 3.30pm each weekday, between Thursday 8 July to Friday 16 July, along a short section of the A446 northbound near Northway Island

• Temporary, phased lane closures from 9.30am to 3.30pm each weekday between Monday 12 July to Thursday 15 July, and Monday 19 July to Tuesday 20 July, along sections of the A446, A452 and A45 near Stonebridge Island

These traffic measures will be carried out in conjunction with a new direction of travel for road users around Northway Island, which commenced on Monday 24 May .

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We have published local community landing pages for each section of the route between London, the West Midlands and Crewe. These provide information about the HS2 route within each area. Over the coming weeks we will be adding further pages and information to each area.

We are aiming to complete this exercise next month (July) and will write to you again to confirm this nearer the time.

We will no longer be using this website or Commonplace to issue email updates to you. Instead, we are asking that you sign up to receive information from HS2 directly. We will continue to produce regular updates about the project, including notifications of our upcoming works, how it’s being constructed and what we’re doing to make it less disruptive.

If you would like to continue to receive updates from HS2 you can sign up for email notifications at engagement.hs2.org.uk/join-mailing-list . We will ask you to confirm your email address as part of the sign-up process.

The personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation and only used for the purposes for which you have provided it.

Find out more about what we will do to keep your information safe in our Personal information charter .

Contact us if you have any questions

If you have any questions about these changes or would like some help signing up to receive email updates from us please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team, available all day, every day on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

There is just one week to go before voting closes in the national competition to name our third Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which will dig a one-mile twin bore tunnel under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire. Visit www.hs2.org.uk/tbmvoting to cast your vote by June 30 .

Long Itchington Wood Tunnel north portal site

More than 180 entries submitted by people in Warwickshire, asked to nominate the names of women closely associated with the county, were whittled down to a shortlist of three. The three candidates are:

Anne - named after Anne Hathaway, who was the wife of the country’s most famous playwright William Shakespeare. She was born in 1556 and her childhood home nearby in Stratford-upon-Avon was bought by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1892 and turned into a museum. Anne was suggested by a Nuneaton resident.

Dorothy - named after Dorothy Hodgkin, who in 1964 became the first British woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her discoveries included confirming the structure of penicillin, and her work with insulin paved the way for it to be used on a large scale for treatment of diabetes. She died in 1994 in Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire. Dorothy was suggested by a student at Warwickshire College Group.

Mary Ann - named after Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, who was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She was born in Nuneaton and her novels, most famously 'Middlemarch', are celebrated for their realism and psychological insights. A North Leamington School pupil suggested Mary Ann.

We are planning to reveal the winning name later this year.

The Long Itchington Wood TBM will begin tunnelling later this year. Operated by our main works contractor Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV), the 2,000-tonne machine will take around five months to complete the first bore of two parallel tunnels. The Long Itchington Wood tunnel means that the ancient woodland above the tunnelling works will not be disturbed and the final section will be a ‘green tunnel' with a soil ‘roof’ built around the tunnel entrance to blend the portal into the natural landscape.

This is the third TBM put to a public naming vote. Our first two machines, Florence and Cecilia, are already tunnelling under the Chilterns and were named after famous local Buckinghamshire women: Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, spent many years living in the county, while Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, a pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, was born in Buckinghamshire.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

LMJV, working on behalf of HS2, is due to temporarily close and divert Welsh Road (between Long Itchington Road and B4455 Fosse Way), 24/7 from Wednesday 30 June until late August. This timeframe is subject to consents – any changes will be published here.

This closure is needed to safely build a new utility corridor, involving an open trench on the road, which is expected to take around 8 weeks to finish.

A signed diversion will be in place, following Long Itchington Road and B4455 Fosse Way.

Three names have been shortlisted from over 180 entries submitted by people in Warwickshire, who were asked to nominate the names of women closely associated with the county. The vote is now open, with the online competition running until the end of June . The names are:

Anne - named after Anne Hathaway, who was the wife of the country’s most famous playwright William Shakespeare. She was born in 1556 and her childhood home nearby in Stratford-upon-Avon was bought by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in 1892 and turned into a museum. Anne was suggested by a Nuneaton resident.

Dorothy - named after Dorothy Hodgkin, who in 1964 became the first British woman to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her discoveries included confirming the structure of penicillin, and her work with insulin paved the way for it to be used on a large scale for treatment of diabetes. She died in 1994 in Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire. Dorothy was suggested by a student at Warwickshire College Group.

Mary Ann - named after Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, who was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She was born in Nuneaton and her novels, most famously 'Middlemarch', are celebrated for their realism and psychological insights. A North Leamington School pupil suggested Mary Ann.

The Long Itchington Wood TBM will begin tunnelling later this year and be operated by our main works contractor for the West Midlands, Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV). The 2,000-tonne TBM, manufactured in Germany by Herrenknecht, will be around 10 metres wide and will take about five months to complete the first bore of two parallel tunnels.

The Long Itchington Wood tunnel avoids disrupting the ancient woodland located above the tunnelling works. Once the first bore is complete, the TBM will be extracted at the South Portal before being transported by road back to the North Portal to commence the second bore. The final section will become a ‘green tunnel’ - also known as a cut and cover tunnel - where a soil ‘roof’ is built around the tunnel entrance to integrate the portal into the natural landscape.

This is the third of our TBMs that will be put to a public vote to name it, with the first two machines already tunnelling under the Chilterns. They were named after two famous local Buckinghamshire women: Florence Nightingale - the founder of modern nursing who spent many years living in Buckinghamshire; and pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who was born in Buckinghamshire.

The national vote will close at the end of June, with the winner expected to be announced later in the summer.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We have published local community landing pages for each section of the route between London, the West Midlands and Crewe. These provide information about the HS2 route within each area. Over the coming weeks we will be adding further pages and information to each area.

We are aiming to complete this exercise in July this year and will write to you to confirm this closer to the time.

We’re asking you to sign up for notifications to continue to receive updates from HS2

We will no longer be using this website or Commonplace to issue email updates to you. Instead, we are asking that you sign up to receive information from HS2 directly. We will continue to produce regular updates about the project, including notifications of our upcoming works, how it’s being constructed and what we’re doing to make it less disruptive.

If you would like to continue to receive updates from HS2 you can sign up for email notifications at engagement.hs2.org.uk/join-mailing-list . We will ask you to confirm your email address as part of the sign-up process.

The personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation and only used for the purposes for which you have provided it.

Find out more about what we will do to keep your information safe in our Personal information charter .

Contact us if you have any questions

If you have any questions about these changes or would like some help signing up to receive email updates from us please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team, available all day, every day on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

For more information please see our notification https://www.hs2.org.uk/work-items/public-rights-of-way-update-wormleighton-priors-hardwick/

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

To find out more about the re-opening of the road and the future work, please register for our webinar on 15 June from 18.00 to 20.00. During this online engagement event we will be available to answer your questions and provide a background to the planned re-opening of the A425 Leamington Road. Registration details for the webinar will be published here shortly.

Other HS2 related highway impacts in the vicinity of the A425

There will be other HS2 related highway works close to the A425. These include:

Closure of Welsh Road – 5 and 6 June 2021

LM will be closing Welsh Road from 08.00 on Saturday 5 June until 17.00 on Sunday 6 June. The reason for the closures is to create a safe working zone whilst we carry out resurfacing works, remove some fencing and move a road sign around the access point at the HS2 compound.

Access will still be maintained for households and businesses along the road. All works are subject to consent, site and weather conditions. Dates may also be subject to change. Please register at hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk to receive updates about works in your area and for up-to-date traffic information go to one.network . Further information on upcoming HS2 highway related works in the vicinity of the A425 will be published here.

HS2 Helpdesk

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434, by Minicom 08081 456 472, or HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We have published local community landing pages for each section of the route between London, the West Midlands and Crewe. These provide information about the HS2 route within each area. Over the coming weeks we will be adding further pages and information to each area.

Once we have moved all of the key pages and information from this website onto the HS2 website later this summer, we will stop updating this website. Visitors to this website will be signposted to the new pages within HS2.org.uk

At this point, we will stop publishing updates to this website and you will no longer receive email notifications from this website.

We are aiming to complete this exercise in July this year and will write to you to confirm this closer to the time.

In addition to moving the local website we are also taking this opportunity to improve our mailing lists and create greater flexibility around how you receive information from us.

We will no longer be using this website or Commonplace to issue email updates to you. Instead, we are asking that you sign up to receive information from HS2 directly. We will continue to produce regular updates about the project, including notifications of our upcoming works, how it’s being constructed and what we’re doing to make it less disruptive.

If you would like to continue to receive updates from HS2 you can sign up for email notifications at engagement.hs2.org.uk/join-mailing-list . We will ask you to confirm your email address as part of the sign-up process.

Once we have moved across all of the pages and information from this website over to the HS2 website we will stop issuing emails from this website. Instead, you will receive emails directly from us about the parts of the project that you’ve expressed an interest in.

The personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation and only used for the purposes for which you have provided it.

Find out more about what we will do to keep your information safe on our Personal information charter .

If you have any questions about these changes or would like some help signing up to receive email updates from us please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team, available all day, every day on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

The works will begin 14 June 2021 and are expected to last until November 2021 and the works will consist of excavation and installation of high voltage cables.

Book your one to one appointment by clicking on the following links below:

For more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.ukFor more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

On Tuesday 11 May , we informed you that we would install temporary 24-hour traffic lights on a short section of the A452 from Monday 24 May for one week.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances outside of our control, these traffic lights will no longer be installed on Monday 24 May. The changes to the re-routing around Northway Island also outlined in the notification will go ahead as planned.

We’ll inform you of the revised dates for the temporary traffic lights in due course.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Subject to obtaining the relevant consents, from Wednesday 2 June to Thursday 4 June, 9.30am to 3.30pm each day, temporary lane closures will be installed along sections of the A452 northbound and A446 southbound near Northway Island. We are carrying out these traffic measures to allow safe access to our work sites to prepare for future construction works, which includes roadside vegetation clearance .

Our works start date and duration may change because our works are dependent on the relevant consents being granted, which may affect when we carry out our planned traffic measures. We’ll inform you of any changes to these planned traffic measures before they take effect, if required, at: www.hs2insolihull.co.uk

These traffic measures will be carried out in conjunction with a new direction of travel for road users around Northway Island, which will commence on Monday 24 May.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

Temporary overnight lane closures on the M42 from Monday 7 June to Friday 11 June 2021

When the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, four new highways bridges will connect the current road network to new routes we are creating. The first of these new highways bridges was safely installed in August 2020 over the M42 . This year, we’ll carry out various activities to fully reinstate the motorway’s assets such as streetlighting.

To carry out this work safely, we’ll install temporary, overnight lane closures along sections of the M42, between junctions 6 and 7, from 10pm to 5am between Monday 7 June and Friday 11 June inclusive. This will include hard shoulder closures along this section of the M42 northbound and southbound.

Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after these times to set up and close down the site.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

The works began on 04/08/2020 and are expected to last until 31/08/2021. The works will be alongside Faraday Avenue, but no traffic management measures are needed.

The works will mainly be in a construction area that will have no impact on the local community; however there will be an access off Faraday Avenue, the position of which will be indicated by temporary signage.

The normal working hours for this will be Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm and Saturdays 7am to 1pm. Our contractors may also be on site for surveys and security checks outside of these hours.

A crew of 17 people will operate each TBM, working in shifts to keep the machines running 24/7. They will be supported by over 100 people on the surface, managing the logistics and maintaining the smooth progress of the tunnelling operation. Chalk excavated from the tunnels will be used for landscaping at the south portal site once construction is complete, creating wildlife-rich chalk grassland habitats across 127 hectares of the southern Chiltern hills. Find out more about HS2's tunnelling programme .

Named after nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale – a name suggested by local children due to her residence at nearby Claydon House in Buckinghamshire, and chosen in a public vote – the TBM will dig the first of a pair of 10 mile long tunnels under the Chiltern hills and help to safeguard the woodland and wildlife habitats above ground, before emerging near Hyde Heath. A second machine ‘Cecilia’ will launch next month to excavate the second tunnel at the South Portal site.

Built by Herrenknecht, a world leader in TBM manufacturing, at its factory in south-west Germany, the two 170m long machines were transported to the UK in more than 300 separate shipments last year , before being reassembled, tested and commissioned by an expert team of tunnelling engineers at the Chiltern tunnel south portal site, near the M25 to the north-west of London.

The first two TBMs will be operated by main works contractor, Align – a joint venture formed of three international infrastructure companies: Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick. Align is recruiting 1,200 personnel in total, including 100 apprentices, to work on this area of the project and are targeting their recruitment and investment in upskilling local people who are currently unemployed, with a particular focus on women, the under 25s and those with disabilities, helping us support the UK Government’s Plan for Jobs to protect, support and create employment during the COVID-19 crisis.

More than 16,000 jobs and over 500 apprenticeships are already being supported by the project, which is set to transform transport links between Britain’s major cities, free up space on the rail network for more freight and local services and support the UK’s transition to net zero carbon emissions.

The names of the two TBMs were suggested by students at Meadow High School in Hillingdon and The Chalfonts Community College, Buckinghamshire, which are close to the tunnel launch site. They were inspired by Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern medicine, and pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin.

Some facts and figures about the Chiltern tunnel TBMs :

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

We are remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area and creating new routes on HS2 land. These road improvements will ensure that when the future station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose. Upon completion, a new T-junction will replace Northway Island. A new ‘longabout’ is already in operation outside the Holiday Inn Express NEC, on the way to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

To date, we have connected parts of the existing road network to some of the new routes we created, and installed new pedestrian footpaths, kerb lines and central reservations in the area. We started the creation of the new T-junction in April. This programme will continue with some changes to the existing traffic rerouting around Northway Island which commenced on Monday 26 April .

From Monday 24 May, one of the short sections of Northway Island that was closed on Monday 26 April will reopen, whilst the other section remains closed. Depending on your direction of travel, road users will no longer be able to travel around the whole of the Island and you may be redirected from Northway Island, along the B4438, and back.

You will still be able to access all routes, there will just be a short diversion from some parts of Northway Island. Direction of travel along the B4438, A452 and Northway will be unaffected.

These traffic measures will be reviewed around July 2021. We’ll keep you informed of any changes to the direction of travel around Northway Island before they take effect.

In conjunction with the traffic measures outlined above, we will also install temporary 24-hour traffic lights on a short section of the A452 from Monday 24 May for one week.

We will maintain access to all buildings, businesses and travel routes in the area during this programme.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

The fresh look of the educational resources follows on from the introduction earlier this year of a suite of curriculum-linked projects designed to help teachers and parents home schooling during the Covid-19 pandemic when we were unable to deliver our regular programme of STEM workshops and schools were less able to take students 'off-curriculum' for career-themed activities during lockdown.

Created by our Skills, Employment and Education team, the resource pages include plans for STEM lessons which teachers can use to introduce a careers context to regular curriculum lessons. Activities take around 1-2 hours to complete and include using maths skills to work out how to construct a bridge across a motorway, researching the ecology of great created newts to create new habitats and using archaeological information to interpret the history of a site. Pupils also have the opportunity to design a new product to improve the customer experience when travelling by train and use their science skills to create an environmental improvement plan for their school.

We have also included a delivery guide for teachers who would like to run a STEM inspiration day in their school. This includes videos, teacher notes, presentations and worksheets for activities where students can develop their skills through hands-on and team build challenges to inspire them to become EPIC (Extraordinary People Initiating Change) engineers. Students develop their STEM powers, exploring the essential skills that are needed to be successful in a STEM career. Activities are underpinned by examples from the world of work, with students finding out about careers in transport infrastructure as they take on different roles in the challenges.

Activities include 'Stations of the Future': a team-based design-and-present activity where students compete to design a futuristic train station considering future trends and the needs of all customers and also tunnel building, where students design, construct and test a supporting structure for a cut and cover tunnel.

We have also introduced STEM projects accredited by the British Science Association, which, when completed, can be entered for a CREST Award. These are longer projects aimed at inspiring pupils to become scientists and engineers that encourage students to carry out independent research or investigation. The target age and duration of the projects vary.

The updated online resources also include activities adapted for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to encourage them to think about pursuing STEM careers. Downloadable lessons for SEND students include working in teams to design a train station, learning about ecosystems and building an insect hotel, and preparing for independent rail travel through role play.

Younger students aged between 7-11 can also get involved in shorter activities ranging from making rail tracks from everyday materials, solving puzzles and planning a railway route.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

The proposed work is to undertake modifications to the Western Power Distribution (WPD) network by excavating a small joint hole in the verge of Bascote Road.

At the work location, Traffic Management, which will be traffic lights controlling a lane closure, will be in place and coordinated to make sure all appropriate lane closure to provide safety from traffic will be in place prior to the works starting. The traffic lights will be removed when work is not taking place.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We would like to invite you to join a free webinar focussing on the environmental sustainability of both Interchange and Curzon Street Station .

Interchange Station

Our brand new West Midlands stations will be amongst the most environmentally friendly buildings in the world once complete. During this free webinar you will hear from our environmental experts about what BREEAM is, the process for achieving an excellent or outstanding BREEAM rating and how we are designing Curzon St Station and Interchange Station to be amongst the world’s most environmentally sustainable stations.

Birmingham Curzon Street Station

The webinar will be broadcast live on Wednesday 12 May, from 12.00-13.15 and you will be able to ask the team questions via a live Q&A chat.

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what we are doing through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel .

This is the third in a series of webinars focussing on Building HS2’s West Midlands stations. The next webinar, Interchange Station- Building Bridges, will take place later this summer. Please visit our events pages for more details.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

The investigation work will mean that we need to dig in the area near the River Leam, off the B4455 Fosseway behind Fields Farm.

The investigation work will mean that we need to dig in the area off Dalehouse Lane.

The i nvestigation work will mean that we need to dig in an area adjacent to Birmingham Road B46 1DP between 4th to 21st May.

The competition portal will close on Friday 30 April, and a final shortlist of nominations will be selected and put to a public vote in May. The winner will be revealed this summer.

This is the third of our tunnel boring machines put to a public vote to name, with the first two machines due to start creating the tunnel under the Chilterns this year. They were named after two famous local Buckinghamshire women: Florence Nightingale - the founder of modern nursing who spent many years living in Buckinghamshire; and pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who was born in Buckinghamshire.

Tunnel Boring Machine to be used in Long Itchington Wood Tunnel 4

The tunnel will preserve the ancient woodland, with the final section forming a ‘green tunnel’ - also known as a cut and cover tunnel - where a roof above will return the land to the natural landscape. Around 170 engineers are working on the TBM during its construction and assembly, and a team will then work around the clock excavating the one-mile tunnel.

It will take five months to dig the first bore of the tunnel, and then it will be extracted at the south portal before being transported by road back to the north portal to commence the second bore.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

On Friday 9 April , we advised that traffic rerouting around Northway Island was scheduled to commence from 5am on Monday 12 April 2021 for two months. However, due to unforeseen circumstances outside of our control, this rerouting was postponed .

Traffic rerouting around Northway Island will now commence from 5am on Monday 26 April for four weeks . During the next four weeks, short sections of Northway Island will be closed. As a result, road users will no longer be able to travel around the whole of the Island. Depending on your direction of travel, you may be redirected from Northway Island and back to access routes either side of the M42.

Direction of travel along the B4438, A452 and Northway will be unaffected, and you will still be able to access all routes in the area.

During this four week period, we will maintain free flowing traffic, as well as access to all buildings and businesses in the area.

To safely carry out activities in preparation for traffic rerouting to commence on Monday 26 April, sections of the B4438 will also be closed from 12 midnight to 2am on Monday 26 April . A signed diversion route will be in place for drivers.

You can view the works notification, including maps, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs

On Friday 9 April, we advised that traffic rerouting around Northway Island was scheduled to commence from 5am on Monday 12 April 2021 for two months. However, due to unforeseen circumstances outside of our control, this rerouting has been postponed .

We’ll inform you of the revised dates in due course.

In the meantime, single lane closures will be reinstalled on and around Northway Island.

You can view the works notification showing the current area of single lane closures, including a map, here .

Temporary overnight single lane closures on the M42 from Monday 26 April to Saturday 8 May, and overnight road closures on the A452 and A446 on Monday 26, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 April

When the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, four new highways bridges will connect the current road network to new routes we are creating. The first of these new highways bridges was safely installed in August over the M42 , and the second was installed in October over the A446 . This year, we will carry out various activities to fully reinstate these roads such as sealant works.

To carry out this work safely, we will install:

• Temporary overnight single lane closures along the M42 from 10pm to 5am, between Monday 26 April and Saturday 8 May

• Temporary overnight road closures along the A452 and A446 from 8pm to 6am, on Monday 26, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 April

Signed diversion routes will be in place for drivers during the overnight road closures. Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after these times to set up and close down the site.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

HS2 Notification: From 5am on Monday 12 April 2021 for two months, traffic travelling around Northway Island will be rerouted

We are remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the Interchange area and creating new routes on HS2 land. These road improvements will ensure that when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose. Upon completion, a new T-junction will replace Northway Island, and a ‘longabout’ will also replace a smaller roundabout outside the Holiday Inn Express NEC, on the way to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

To date, we have connected parts of the existing road network to some of the new routes we created, and installed new pedestrian footpaths, kerb lines and central reservations in the area. We are now progressing the creation of the new T-junction, and traffic travelling around Northway Island will be rerouted.

From 5am on Monday 12 April for two months, short sections of Northway Island will be closed. As a result, road users will no longer be able to travel around the whole of the Island. Depending on your direction of travel, you may be redirected from Northway Island and back to access routes either side of the M42.

Direction of travel along the B4438, A452 and Northway will be unaffected, and you will still be able to access all routes in the area.

During this two month period, we will maintain free flowing traffic, as well as access to all buildings and businesses in the area.

A signed diversion route will be in place for drivers.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

For more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

Preparations for main construction work on HS2 are now well underway. To continue with this work, we will be undertaking ground investigation surveys within various locations in land situated off Attleboro Lane, Water Orton. These surveys help us to understand more about the ground conditions where we want to build the railway. The surveys will involve taking soil samples and boring trial holes in different locations. To complete our survey works, we will transport drilling rigs to site by trailer. Drilling rigs will then be positioned on site and our workforce will travel to site every day by a 4x4 vehicle.

Works are scheduled to start 19 April and will be working in the area for 4 weeks.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

Due to the Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic and in response to Government guidance on social distancing it is not possible to engage directly with community groups in the usual way.

We have therefore created a virtual exhibition to share our design for the viaduct and to seek your feedback . Click on the image below to visit the virtual exhibition and explore the design proposals in detail.

We are also holding online information events or 'webinars' where our team will provide a presentation on how the design and construction works are developing and will be available to answer any questions you may have via a live Q&A.

These online 'webinars' have been set up to give the local community the opportunity to hear from the team designing and building the railway in your area. The events are being held on two dates. Please select which date to you would like to attend when registering:

KDEs are structures along the route of the new railway that have been recognised to be important. This could be due to their size, proximity to stakeholders or their location within sensitive areas. The design for the viaduct has been developed with consideration for technical and structural requirements, as well as the impact on its surroundings.

A viaduct is a type of bridge, made up of multiple spans and connecting two points of terrain. On this project they will carry the high speed railway across valleys, rivers, roads and flood plains. Modern high speed trains travel at around four times the speed of Victorian trains so they require a flatter, straighter track, passing over and under the natural landscape. Modern viaducts have to cope with large longitudinal forces due to the braking and traction of high speed trains. They require stiff and strong supports, known as piers, to transfer the braking load forces from the train, which can be as much as a 770 tonnes load, to the foundations.

For more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

More details including map are available here

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

On Thursday 11 March , we informed you that we would carry out a temporary weekend closure along a short section of the B4438 from 8pm on Friday 26 March to 5am on Monday 29 March.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances outside of our control, this temporary weekend closure will now be carried out from:

• 8pm on Friday 9 April to 5am on Monday 12 April

Also, from 12 midnight to 2am on Monday 12 April, the closure extent and signed diversion route will change , as we work on a short section of Northway Island.

Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times to set up and close down the site.

Signed diversion routes will be in place for drivers during the weekend closure.

You can view the updated works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

To allow for the construction of the new railway and to continue to ensure a safe and reliable gas supply, Cadent will be moving an underground gas pipeline that runs near Leicester Lane, Cubbington. We expect to complete all our work by the end of 2021. We will keep local people up to date as our work progresses.

We will shortly be finishing preparation activities and will be starting site set-up and main work to move the pipeline from 12 April 2021. The works involve:

• Setting up a temporary compound on land between Leicester Lane and Coventry Road.

• Installing fencing around our working area.

• Digging a trench for the new pipeline. We will look to bore a tunnel to install the pipe underneath Leicester Lane, so we can avoid closing the road.

• Welding the pipe together then installing it in the trench.

• Connecting and testing the new pipe.

There will be 24-hour security on site so we can maintain a safe working environment. Please note, there will be no on-site accommodation.

The Public Right of Way between Leicester Lane and Coventry Road will remain open. So that we can carry out the work safely, we will be installing a fenced crossing where the footpath crosses our working area. Walkers will have priority, and signs will be in place to make people aware.

Construction vehicles will use the accesses we’ve constructed off Leicester Lane to reach the site. Signs will be in place to make other road users aware. Standard construction vehicles and equipment will be used, and all work will take place inside usual working hours.

Where: Online via Zoom Sign Up Here

PLEASE NOTE:

Parental consent is needed to register.

Parents/guardians are responsible for supervising children during the session but should not appear on the screen for safeguarding purposes.

This session is being led by Wessex Archaeology supported by LM, HS2 and the Council of British Archaeology.

While you’re here…

The Coleshill site is being excavated because it’s on the route of High Speed Two (HS2). The UK’s largest archaeology programme is taking place along this route and has unearthed exciting discoveries.

We would love to know if you are interested in joining regular online sessions for 8 – 16 year olds, exploring the archaeology of HS2 or the archaeology of the Birmingham/Warwickshire area in general.

Sounds good to you?

If you are interested in joining regular online sessions, we recommend coming along to this session.

If you are 18 or over and would like to be involved in supporting the running of the group contact engagement@wessexarch.co.uk.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

On Thursday 11 March , we informed you that we would carry out a temporary weekend closure along a short section of the B4438 from 8pm on Friday 26 March to 5am on Monday 29 March.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances outside of our control, this temporary weekend closure has been postponed .

We’ll inform you of the revised dates in due course.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The Funds for Phase One, independently administered by community charity Groundwork UK, support urban and rural, community, environmental and business projects. For more information on Groundwork and the funds, including how to apply, visit https://hs2funds.org.uk/ . You can also watch our short videos which explain how to best demonstrate that your project meets the criteria for the Community, Environment or Business Funds.

If you have any questions about the Community and Business Funds, HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Replacement of two kilometres of retaining walls with cutting slopes will also reduce the ‘barrier effect’ of the scheme for species and provide additional opportunities for new habitats and grassland for newts and reptiles. There are also plans for improved integrated landscape design. More vegetation will be preserved and the overall amount of land required will be reduced, meaning more land can be returned to agricultural use after construction.

There are also plans to create a high-quality wetland habitat either side of the realigned section of Canley Brook, as well as additional woodland, hedgerow and species-rich grassland habitat on both sides of Crackley Road Cutting. This will benefit a range of protected and local species and contribute to our objective of achieving no net loss of biodiversity.

Additional landscape bunds (raised earthwork structures) and noise barriers will be incorporated along the route for increased visual screening, better integration and to mitigate noise impacts.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

This 'webinar' is being held on Thursday 25th March 5:30pm to 7:00pm and will focus on how the changes affect the route through:

The event will also highlight the benefits of the design change and our team of experts will be available to answer any questions you may have during the session.

We will be running this session via Microsoft Teams Meetings, which is a free to use online platform.

Please note registration closes 2 hours before each live event starts.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

https://www.hs2.org.uk/work-items/temporary-closure-long-itchington-road-east/

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The new In your area map brings all of our work notifications together on one page, making it easier for you to navigate and ensure you are kept up-to-date on the work we are doing to deliver the new railway. There is also a text only view , which allows you to view the information in a table and filter results for each area.

Each work item, highlighted on the map with a 'hard hat' icon, lets you know:

You can easily see any other works we might be doing nearby, also pinpointed with an icon.

We will be introducing further improvements to the mapping tool and to this local website over the coming months. We will keep you informed of changes as they happen through our regular email notifications and our local engagement events and activities.

We'd like to know what you think about the new mapping tool and ways that we can improve it, to ensure that you can easily find information about the delivery of the railway in your area and how to contact us if you have any questions.

Let us know your views by completing our In your area map feedback survey .

If you have any questions about the recent changes or would like some help using the new interactive map, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Please register by follow this link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hs2-bbv-canley-brook-design-update-webinar-tickets-143073074417

We are remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area, and constructing new routes on HS2 land, which will connect to four new highway bridges. These road improvements will ensure that when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose.

As part of this programme, we will install a temporary, weekend road closure on a short section of the B4438 from 8pm on Friday 26 March, to 5am on Monday 29 March.

Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times to set up and close down the site. A signed diversion route will be in place for drivers during the weekend closure. If work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the B4438 earlier if possible.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

More information is available on this notice .

Temporary traffic management is in place to carry out works to the bellmouth access to the work site on Welsh Road.

More information is available on this notice

For further information please see our notification

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

Following tradition, tunnel boring machines are always named after women, and we are asking people in the county to help choose a name based on their female role models – whether famous people or unsung heroines. Suggestions will be shortlisted in May and three finalists put to a national public vote, before a winner is announced in the summer.

We have launched an online portal for Warwickshire residents to submit their chosen names and you are encouraged to choose people who have an association with Warwickshire and may include, for example, actresses, artists, scientists, engineers, authors, athletes and musicians. Names may also include the unsung heroines of Warwickshire, including individuals who deserve recognition for their contributions to the local community.

The competition portal will remain open until the end of April, and a final shortlist of nominations will be selected and put to a public vote in May. The winner will be revealed during the launch of the Long Itchington Wood tunnel boring machine this summer.

The 2,000 tonne tunnel boring machine will be operated by BBV and will create a one-mile twin bore tunnel under Long Itchington Wood. It will take five months to dig the first bore of the tunnel, and then it will be extracted at the south portal before being transported by road back to the north portal to commence the second bore.

The tunnel will preserve the ancient woodland in this location, and the final section will form a ‘green tunnel’ - also known as a cut and cover tunnel - where a roof above will return the land to the natural landscape. We’ve already planted 80,000 trees in the Midlands, with an additional 47,000 planted this winter in Warwickshire as part of our green corridor programme that will deliver new woodlands, wildlife habitats and green spaces for people to enjoy.

Around 170 engineers are working on the TBM during its construction and assembly, and a team will then work around the clock excavating the one-mile tunnel. This TBM, along with those soon to start digging under the Chilterns and, a little later in the year, underneath London, is a key element of our role in the Government’s commitment to Build Back Better.

This is the third of our tunnel boring machines to be named by public vote. The first two machines, which are due to start creating the tunnel under the Chilterns, were named after famous local Buckinghamshire women: Florence Nightingale - the founder of modern nursing who spent many years living in Buckinghamshire; and pioneering astronomer and astrophysicist, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, who was born in Buckinghamshire.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what we are doing through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel. Further joining instructions will be sent to all registered attendees closer to the time.

Watch the first webinar in the Building HS2’s West Midlands Stations series – Designing Interchange Station .

The next webinar will be 'Midlands Stations – Achieving a Sustainable Lifetime Through Design'. Please subscribe to www.hs2inBirmingham.co.uk to be kept informed about this and future sessions, or visit www.hs2.org.uk/events for details of all upcoming events.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

When the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, four new highways bridges will connect the current road network to new routes we are creating. The first of these new highways bridges was safely installed in August over the M42 , and the second was installed in October over the A446 . This year, we will carry out various activities to fully reinstate these roads such as street lighting connections.

To carry out this work safely, we will install:

• Temporary overnight single lane closures along the M42 southbound from 10pm to 5am, between Monday 15 March and Saturday 27 March (the hard shoulder along the closure will also be closed)

• Temporary overnight road closures along the A452 and A446 from 8pm to 6am, on Monday 15, Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 March

Signed diversion routes will be in place for drivers during the overnight road closures. Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after these times to set up and close down the site.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

For further information please see our notification .

If you have any questions about the Community and Business Funds, HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

We would like to thank you for your understanding and patience during these works. The works notification can be found here .

When the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, four new highways bridges will connect the current road network to new routes we are creating. The first of these new highways bridges was safely installed in August over the M42 , and the second was installed in October over the A446 . This year, we will carry out various activities to fully reinstate these roads, such as drainage connections.

On Monday 25 January , we informed you that we were planning to install a combination of temporary, overnight road closures and 24-hour single lane closures along the A452 and A446 from Monday 8 February to Tuesday 16 February.

However, due to adverse weather conditions forecast throughout this week, we will reschedule parts of this closure programme. The following traffic measures will no longer take place:

• Temporary, overnight road closures along the A452 and A446 from 8pm on Tuesday 9 February to 6am on Wednesday 10 February, and from 8pm on Thursday 11 February to 6am on Friday 12 February

We’ll inform you of the revised dates in due course.

The following traffic measures will proceed as planned:

• Temporary, overnight road closure along the A446 northbound and southbound from 8pm on Wednesday 10 February to 6am on Thursday 11 February

• Temporary, overnight road closures along the A452 and A446 from 8pm on Monday 15 February to 6am on Tuesday 16 February

• 24-hour single lane closures along the A446 from Monday 8 February to Monday 15 February

• 24-hour single lane closures along the A452 from Monday 8 February to Monday 15 February

You can view the original works notification , including a map, here.

HS2 Notification: Temporary weekend closure on a short section of the A452 rescheduled to Friday 19 February – Monday 22 February 2021

On Friday 15 January , we informed you that we would carry out a temporary weekend closure along a short section of the A452 from 8pm on Friday 12 February, to 5am on Monday 15 February.

However, due to events outside of our control, this temporary weekend closure will now be carried out on the following dates:

• From 8pm on Friday 19 February to 5am on Monday 22 February

Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times to set up and close down the site. If work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the A452 earlier if possible.

A signed diversion route will be in place for drivers throughout the closure.

You can view the updated works notification , including a map, here.

If you have any questions about the Community and Business Funds, HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Please find more details on the notification on our works in your area page here

Following our recent notification Ref: HS2-EW-LM-Ph1-Ar-No-N1-Traf-18-01/11/2021, on the works in our area page here , we notified the community of remedial works that need to be carried along the B4452 and B4451 between Ufton and Bishops Itchington.

Upon starting these works, we found further issues. This meant that our anticipated closure dates had to be adapted and resulted in us having to close the B4452 between the A425 and Butt Lane and the B4452 between Butt Lane and Deppers bridge concurrently for a short period of time.

The additional works has meant that the dates for subsequent road closures has changed and are now as follows:

- Ongoing to 7 February - Deppers Bridge B4452 closed between Butt Lane and Station Road.

- 8 to 10 February - Station Road B4451 closed between Deppers Bridge and Lakin Drive.

These works may be subject to further change

Access will still be maintained for households and businesses along both routes and a clearly signposted diversion will be in place. We will also ensure that all road signage reflects approved changes.

All works may be subject site and weather conditions. Dates are also subject to change.

We are currently preparing as much of the future HS2 railway route as possible to ensure that main construction work can commence on time in the Interchange area. Our activities include some vegetation and tree clearance. To conduct this safely, we need to install temporary single lane closures in the Interchange area. You can find out more information about sustainable high speed travel here .

Subject to obtaining the relevant consents, we’ll install temporary single lane closures on and around Biddles Loop from Monday 15 February for two weeks. Our working hours will be 9.30am 3.30pm, Monday to Friday. Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times to set up and close down the site.

You will still be able to travel along all routes in both directions.

Our works start date and duration may change because our works are dependent on the relevant consents being granted, which may affect when we carry out our planned traffic measures.

These traffic measures will be carried out in conjunction with existing 24-hour single lane closures on and around Northway Island. These works were communicated in December 2020 .

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The new digital platform, hosted on the HS2 website  , offers those looking for work or a change of career, the opportunity to search the very latest vacancies with our construction partners and station contractors delivering the London to Birmingham section of the railway. The jobs board allows prospective candidates to search for vacancies by region or specialism, so they can quickly identify opportunities that match their criteria. 

In September 2020, our four main works contractors and two station construction partners estimated that they would create over 20,000 jobs to support the decade-long construction programme for Phase One of the project. The jobs board, highlighting opportunities to work with us within the  supply chain, makes it easier for jobseekers to navigate and find a position that matches their career aspirations.

It has been developed as part of a job brokerage partnership model, bringing together local authorities, enterprise partnerships, charities and employment support services along the 140-mile route of the first phase of the new railway. Job brokerage partners will play an integral role in supporting individuals from local communities, disadvantaged and underrepresented groups into employment on the project, in line with objectives set out in our Skills, Employment and Education Strategy.

We have already supported 13,000 jobs, including more than 400 new apprenticeship starts and over 550 previously unemployed individuals. Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, we and our contractors also supported over 100 work experience placements to ensure that individuals are actively engaged with the programme and have the very best opportunity to capitalise on future career openings. 

The start of main construction works last year was a catalyst for the project, spearheading £12bn of contract opportunities which British businesses are beginning to bid for.  As our tier one contractors begin procuring suppliers and services required to deliver their work packages, the number of job opportunities will increase. This heightened demand has created new career pathways and long-term career prospects for individuals at all levels, in both blue and white-collar roles.

Please click here for more information about HS2’s job brokerage programme, or to search for vacancies on the new job platform .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Extension to traffic management on Kingsbury Road - notification here

Stoneleigh

Overnight lane and slip road closures on A46 during February - more information here

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We are remodelling and improving sections of the existing road network in the area, and constructing new routes on HS2 land, which will connect to four new highway bridges. These road improvements will ensure that when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose .

On Friday 15 January , we informed you that we would carry out a temporary weekend closure along a short section of the B4438 from 8pm on Friday 29 January, to 5am on Monday 1 February.

However, due to adverse weather conditions forecast for this weekend, this temporary weekend closure will now be carried out on the following dates:

Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times to set up and close down the site. If work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the B4438 earlier if possible.

A signed diversion route will be in place for drivers throughout the closure.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what we are doing through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel .

This is the first in a series of webinars we will be running, highlighting the building of our West Midlands stations. The next webinar, Designing Curzon Street Station, will take place in March. Please visit www.hs2.org.uk/events for details of all upcoming events.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The online resources were created as a result of us being unable to visit schools to deliver our regular programme of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workshops because of Covid-19 restrictions and also schools being less able to take students 'off-curriculum' for career-themed activities due to the disruption caused by the pandemic.

Our Skills, Employment and Education team has created plans for STEM lessons which teachers can use to introduce a careers context to regular curriculum lessons. The activities are expected to take 1-2 hours to complete and are aimed primarily at 11-14 year-olds. Lessons include using maths skills to decide on how to construct a bridge across a motorway, researching the ecology of great created newts to create new habitats and using archaeological information to interpret the history of a site. There are also longer STEM projects and workshops available online, where students can develop their skills through hands-on and team build challenges to inspire them to become EPIC engineers.

During the past year, five HS2 colleagues have become Enterprise Advisors for schools for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Our work with these schools revealed a demand for STEM activities adapted for SEND students, to encourage them to consider STEM careers. Online lessons for SEND students include working in teams to design a train station, learning about ecosystems and building an insect hotel, and preparing for independent rail travel through role play.

Younger students aged between 7-11 can also get involved in shorter activities ranging from making rail tracks from everyday materials, solving puzzles and planning a railway route.

For more information and to download guides and worksheets, visit our learning from home educational content web page .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Following public consultation, we've revealed new designs for two viaducts near the village of Water Orton in Warwickshire, including new landscaped areas that will provide green public spaces and wildlife habitats.

In Spring 2020, we asked local people for their views on the design of the Water Orton viaducts, and much of the feedback focused on improving the landscape around the structure of the railway. Suggestions included creating a green space for the village which could provide a recreational area and an observation spot to view wildlife, as well as a pathway for walking and cycling.

As a result, our landscape architects and engineers from Systra and Mott MacDonald working closely with architects Weston Williamson + Partners have developed new plans for a more connected and accessible area that will include tree planting and new wildlife habitats with an opportunity, subject to local interest, for a community orchard or area of allotments.

To find out more about the viaducts, including the latest designs, view our Water Orton Viaducts Design information Booklet, January 2021 .

This webinar has been set up to give residents the opportunity to hear and ask questions about:

Our team will provide a presentation on the Water Orton viaducts and will be available to answer any questions you may have during the event.

If you have a question about HS2 or the Water Orton Viaducts, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

When the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, four new highways bridges will connect the current road network to new routes we are creating. The first of these new highways bridges was safely installed in August over the M42 , and the second was installed in October over the A446 . This year, we will carry out various activities to fully reinstate these roads, such as drainage connections.

To carry out this work safely, we will install:

• Temporary, overnight road closures along the A452 and A446 from 8pm to 6am, from Monday 8 February to Friday 12 February, and then from 8pm to 6am, from Monday 15 February to Tuesday 16 February

• 24-hour single lane closures along the A446 from Monday 8 February to Wednesday 10 February

• 24-hour single lane closures along the A452 from Monday 8 February to Monday 15 February

Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times to set up and close down the site. Signed diversion routes will be in place for drivers during the overnight road closures.

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Further information can be found here .

This is the second instalment of our series on the Coleshill Manor site. The first webinar took place in November 2020 and is available to watch now: HS2 In Focus: Archaeology - Uncovering the Medieval manor house in Coleshill, November 2020 webinar

Our team will discuss new finds, including artefacts, garden features and building remains and also highlight how these are helping us to build a greater picture of the manor house. You will be able to ask the team questions via a live Q&A chat option and pre-submit questions when you register.

We also recommend that you watch our previous webinars on the Coleshill site, so that you are up to date on our work so far:

The Archaeology of HS2: Uncovering the stories of Coleshill’s past

HS2 InFocus Webinar: The Archaeology of HS2 - Uncovering Coleshill

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what has been unearthed so far through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

You can view the works notification, including a map, here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

You can view the works notification, including a map, here.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

This is the second instalment of our series on the Coleshill Manor site. The first webinar took place in November 2020 and is available to watch now: HS2 In Focus: Archaeology - Uncovering the Medieval manor house in Coleshill, November 2020 webinar

Our team will chat about some of the new discoveries on site, including artefacts, garden features and building remains and discuss how these new findings are helping us to build a greater picture of the manor house. You will be able to ask the team questions via a live Q&A chat option and pre-submit questions when you register.

We also recommend that you watch our previous webinars on the Coleshill site, so that you are up to date on our work so far:

The Archaeology of HS2: Uncovering the stories of Coleshill’s past

HS2 InFocus Webinar: The Archaeology of HS2 - Uncovering Coleshill

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what has been unearthed so far through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The planting initiative is part of our extensive Green Corridor programme, designed to create a network of bigger, better-connected, habitats and new green spaces for people to enjoy. 430,000 trees have already been planted across Phase One and up to 7 million trees will eventually be planted along this part of the route, with many new grasslands, meadows and recreational areas for local communities.

This short video highlights progress so far in the delivery of the Green Corridor.

In Warwickshire and the wider West Midlands , 60,000 trees will be planted at locations around South Cubbington Wood, Ashbeds Wood, Fulfen Wood, Ravenshaw and Broadwells Wood. A broad range of tree and shrub species will be planted to reflect each local area , including oak, hazel, birch, holly and hawthorn. This builds on the 80,000 trees already planted in the Midlands, with 40 ponds and many acres of wetland, heathland and meadow also created across the region.

Through Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire , advanced planting and woodland compensation planting is being undertaken at West Hyde and Horn Hill, Wendover Dean, Aylesbury, Calvert and near the village of Ladbroke, by specialist ecology and landscape companies.

In West Ruislip , planting will create new woodland areas to provide connected habitats for bats . Trees being planted include field maple, hornbeam, hazel, holly, bird cherry, mountain ash, yew and spindle. There will also be areas of grassland and ponds created to protect local biodiversity and create new homes for a mix of wildlife.

These areas will quickly develop to create new opportunities for wildlife and people, bolstering local wildlife corridors by linking with existing woodlands and other habitats. New wildlife habitats in a variety of locations also include badger setts, bat houses, bird boxes, reptile banks and bug houses to help local wildlife populations thrive.

We have developed a new online map showing where we are delivering Green Corridor activities and highlighting our additional funded environmental projects along the route. You can view relevant Community and Environment Fund (CEF) and Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF) projects, the Woodland Fund, other local panel funds, and our environmental works in your area.

The Green Corridor Prospectus accompanies the map, outlining how the Green Corridor and associated funding can benefit communities. Used together, these tools will enable community and environment groups to identify local opportunities to enhance and enjoy the natural environment using the funds available.

Funding is available for a wide range of independent environmental projects to benefit nature and communities along the route , including creating new parks and play facilities, investing in green spaces in urban areas, regenerating areas along canals, and conserving and enhancing the historic environment. By working in partnership with organisations and individuals, the Green Corridor will deliver a positive, long-term legacy for the natural and historic environment , and for people and communities across the country.

On Phase One and Phase 2a, the £7m HS2 Woodland Fund is helping local landowners create new native, broadleaf woodlands and restore existing ancient woodland sites. The first £1.25m has been allocated as part of a grant scheme managed on our behalf by the Forestry Commission, supporting 28 woodland projects that will deliver approximately 105 hectares of new woodland and restore a further 68 hectares of ancient woodland.

For more information about funding available and how local groups can apply please visit www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/hs2-green-corridor

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Works near Lea Marston

Archaeology work near Coleshill

Ground investigation work on Attleboro Lane , Water Orton

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

When the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, four new highways bridges will connect the current road network to new routes we are creating. The first of these new highways bridges was safely installed in August over the M42 , and the second was installed in October over the A446 . In 2021, we will carry out various activities to fully reinstate these roads such as drainage connections.

To carry out this work safely, we’ll install temporary 24-hour lane closures along the M42 from 8pm on Friday 15 January 2021 to 5am on Monday 18 January 2021. Our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times to set up and close down the site. Lane closure direction will alternate throughout the weekend, and the hard shoulder within the closure extents will also be closed.

You will still be able to travel along all routes in both directions.

You can view the works notification , including a map, here.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

View and download the Community Engagement Progress Report: January to June 2020 report. A collection of all our reports to date can be found on the HS2 website .

We will continue to publish these reports on a regular basis.

As part of our commitment to conserve and enhance Britain’s natural environment as we plan and build the railway, HS2 is creating a Green Corridor along the route, a network of joined up habitats, landscaping and community-based environmental projects.

We have developed an online map showing where we are delivering Green Corridor activities and where additional HS2 funded environmental projects are being delivered along the route. You will be able to use the map to view relevant Community and Environment Fund (CEF) and Business and Local Economy Fund (BLEF) projects, the Woodland Fund, other local panel funds, and HS2 environmental works in your area.

We have also published a Green Corridor Prospectus to accompany the map. The prospectus outlines the many ways the Green Corridor and associated funding can benefit communities, for example, through the creation of new play facilities, investment in green spaces in urban areas, regeneration along canals, and conservation and enhancement of the historic environment.

Used together the Prospectus and the online map will enable community and environment groups to identify local opportunities to enhance and enjoy the natural environment using the funds available.

As you will know there are a number of grants available to support environmental projects and improve green spaces in your constituency, such as the HS2 Community & Environment Fund and the Woodland Fund. If you would like to know more about how local groups can apply for funding please visit www.hs2.org.uk/building-hs2/hs2-green-corridor .

We are committed to providing you with information about what construction activities will be happening in your area and when. Our construction forward looks include information on construction, environmental and survey activities planned over the next three months. The latest edition is available to view and download on the works in your area page .

Please note that the dates and information included in the forward look may be subject to change as the programme develops and any changes will be updated in the next edition of the forward look.

As a reminder, over the festive period the HS2 Helpdesk will continue to operate all day, every day , including Christmas Day and bank holidays. You can contact us for free on 08081 434 434, by Minicom on 08081 456 472, or by email at HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

Notification of overnight lane closures on M42 between Junctions 9 and 10 - from 11th to 25th January 2021

Notice of temporary traffic lights on B4118, Birmingham Rd, Water Orton during January 2021

Notification of traffic management on Kingsbury Rd

There will be lane and hard shoulder closures on the M6/M42 link roads to the south of Water Orton

There will be hard shoulder closures on the link roads onto the M6 near Chelmsley Wood and South Coleshill

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

WP 070 - A446 layby closure_FINAL.pdf

HS2 Notice of A46 Lane Closures - LR - SA1 (002).pdf

Greatworth to Southam

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

The first images of one of our largest construction sites in the Midlands have been revealed, showing preparations being made for the launch of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) that will dig under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire, creating a 1 mile twin bore tunnel, before the route heads north and into Birmingham's Curzon Street Station.

Current works on the 1km square north portal site include a large and deep excavation, with 250,000m3 of material being removed in layers before being transported and deposited locally to form environmental embankments for the main line. The 2,000 tonne TBM, manufactured in Germany by Herrenknecht, is due for delivery on site early in 2021 and will be launched next summer, with the boring completed by mid-2022.

The tunnel will be around 9-10 metres in diameter, with the TBM taking around five months to complete the first bore of the twin bore tunnel. Once completed, the TBM will be extracted at the South Portal and transported by road back to the North Portal to commence the second bore.

This key site is managed by the BBV Joint Venture (Balfour Beatty Group and VINCI Construction), who will be one of the biggest recruiters in the Midlands over the next two years, expecting to recruit 7,000 jobs to support the delivery of Britain's new high speed railway. There are currently 60 workers on site including student engineers and apprentices.

There are already 25 new apprentices from Warwickshire working with us and our supply chain, representing 7% of total new apprenticeships. We have also been working with stakeholders in Warwickshire to develop our Job Brokerage Model, due for launch in 2021. A major part of this is a new Job Brokerage Platform developed to showcase the vacancies being created by the delivery of Phase One of HS2.

Across Warwickshire, 82 businesses are supporting the delivery of the project, over 80% of which are SMEs, from sectors including construction training, builders’ merchants, forestry, electrical suppliers and labour providers. We are actively promoting supply chain opportunities to businesses in Warwickshire through partners that include Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, Coventry and Warwickshire LEP (Growth Hub), West Midlands FSB and Kenilworth Chamber.

There are 100 bridges, 35 viaducts, 36 cuttings and 70 bridge structures on this part of the route and BBV are also building the Bromford Tunnel. Works on a Green Tunnel located south of the Long Itchington Wood south portal will also begin later this year.

At the peak of construction on the whole of Phase One, ten tunnel boring machines - each a self-contained underground factory - will work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Weighing up to 2,200 tonnes, each 160m long machine will bore and line the tunnels as they drive forward at speeds of up to 15 metres per day.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

Temporary traffic management on B4115 in December - notice

Temporary traffic management on Fosse Way in December - notice

We received 457 replies and our Survey Response Document summarising these has now been published on our website .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

For further information please see our notification

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the HS2 enquiries team on 08081 434 434 or via HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what we are doing through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel .

Even before HS2 starts operating, there are countless environmental projects and innovations occurring up and down the route to protect, preserve and enhance Britain’s precious natural environment.

We continue to undertake one of the largest ecological surveys in the UK. Some of the UK’s most experienced and leading ecological consultants are working with us, and our work is supported with technical input and advice from specialist ecologists.

Visit the HS2 website for more information about our work to manage our impact on the environment .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

To find out more please see our Notification .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

The Archaeology of HS2: Uncovering the stories of Coleshill’s past

HS2 InFocus Webinar: The Archaeology of HS2 - Uncovering Coleshill

We will be publishing a video recording of the session online, so if you are unable to attend the event, you will still be able to learn about what has been unearthed so far through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

For further information on this work, including maps and details of the layout, please click the link here .

HS2 and the COVID-19 outbreak

As previously announced, HS2 has taken the decision to postpone all face-to-face engagement events and meetings due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, we remain committed to being a good neighbour to anyone affected by our work, and have continued to notify local residents about any activities in their area through alternative methods of communication. This includes direct mail, such as the latest newsletters, which we have sent in the post to local residents that are impacted by our works.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

For more detailed information you can read the notification here.

HS2 and the COVID-19 outbreak

As previously announced, HS2 has taken the decision to postpone all face-to-face engagement events and meetings due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, we remain committed to being a good neighbour to anyone affected by our work, and have continued to notify local residents about any activities in their area through alternative methods of communication. This includes direct mail, such as the latest newsletters, which we have sent in the post to local residents that are impacted by our works.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

To ensure that the local road network is fit for purpose when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, we are remodelling and improving the existing network and creating new routes on HS2 land.

On Friday 23 October 2020, sections of the A452 Chester Road (northbound) and A446 Stonebridge Road (northbound and southbound) between Stonebridge Island and M6 Junction 4 were closed to traffic. This closure enabled LM to safely install a bridge deck over the A446.

We’re pleased to inform you that the full closure of the A452 and A446 was lifted on Sunday 25 October 24 hours earlier than planned.

Road users can now travel in both directions along the A452. A temporary 24-hour single lane closure is now in place along the A446 southbound for approximately five days, to allow us to carry out various activities to reinstate the road. Please view the works notification , including maps.

We would like to thank you for your cooperation to allow us to successfully complete this phase of work.

If you would like to find out more about what we are doing in the Interchange area for the remainder of 2020, you can read our most recent HS2 Update newsletter .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

On 7 October 2020 , we informed you that we had to postpone our temporary night time road closures on a section of the A45 Service Road and East Way.

These works have now been rescheduled from Monday 2 November through to Wednesday 11 November. The works will take place overnight from 9pm to 5am.

Please see our notification , including a map showing the extent of the closure and the diversion routes, for more information.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk.

To ensure that the local road network is fit for purpose when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, we are remodelling and improving the existing network and creating new routes on HS2 land.

To link the new network with existing routes, we’re building four connecting highways bridges. The first was successfully installed across the M42 in August. To safely install the next bridge deck over the A446, parts of the A452 Chester Road and A446 Stonebridge Road will be closed this weekend.

Sections of the A452 Chester Road (northbound) and A446 Stonebridge Road (northbound and southbound) between Stonebridge Island and M6 Junction 4 will be closed to traffic after evening rush hour on Friday 23 October 2020, and reopen before morning rush hour on Monday 26 October 2020. If work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the A452 and A446 earlier if possible.

During the temporary closure, diversions will be in place and clear signage will be displayed for drivers. Please visit the Highways England website for full details or view the works notification , including a map.

After this second bridge is installed over the A446, we will also need to carry out various activities to reinstate the road. To conduct these safely, we will install a 24-hour single lane closure and then a road closure. Firstly, we'll install a temporary 24-hour single lane closure along the A446 southbound from Monday 26 October for approximately five days. If the bridge over the A446 is completed ahead of schedule and the A452 and A446 are reopened before Monday 26 October, we will install the 24-hour single lane closure from that point.

To complete our activities to reinstate the road, when we remove the 24-hour single lane closure, we will install a temporary road closure along the A446 southbound from Friday 30 October for one night. Please view the works notification , including maps.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

For further information please see this notification

If you have question about HS2 and our works please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org. uk

In most cases, our Helpdesk team will be able to answer your question straight away, but if they can’t then they'll work with our local teams in your area to respond.

For more information about our Helpdesk and how to get in touch with us, please visit www.hs2.org.uk/helpdesk

On the 5th of October , we informed you that we were planning to implement a temporary night time road closure on Packington Lane. The works were due to take place from 9pm to 5am on the 16th of October. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to reschedule these works for overnight on Monday 19 October from 9pm to 5am.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

To mark the Council for British Archaeology's Festival of Archaeology , we are holding a series of free online events so you can get involved and find out more about what treasures are being unearthed as we build the country's new high speed railway. The event, now in its 29th year, is being held from October 24 - November 1, shining a light on our past and how our ancestors lived.

If you've ever wondered what an archaeologist does when they’re at work, then or webinar A day in the life of a HS2 Archaeologist on Monday October 26 (12.15 - 12.50pm) is for you!

The session will explore the academic choices and professional job roles which led some of our archaeologists to their careers working on HS2. Hosted by one of our Historic Environment Managers and main works civils contractor CSJV’s Archaeological Lead, this webinar focuses on the careers of Dr Emma Hopla and Dr Emma Tetlow.

They will discuss a typical week in the life of the Archaeological Client and the Archaeological Contractor, as well as some of the exciting discoveries they have made along the way. You will also be able to ask the team questions via a live Q&A chat.

Sign up to attend this free online event via our Eventbrite page

Our second session, An Introduction to HS2 Archaeology: Staffordshire and Cheshire , highlights how our archaeological works on Phase 2a from Fradley to Crewe, which cross north Staffordshire and East Cheshire, build upon our experiences and discoveries from Phase One, revealing new insights and findings about the history of this landscape.

Led by Chris Jordan, our Historic Environment Manager for Phase 2a, this talk will introduce the heritage along the Phase 2a route, including the influence of the landscape, and discuss what we are trying to discover, how we do it, and what exciting finds we might expect over the next few years.

You will be able to ask Chris and the team questions via a live Q&A chat during the online event which takes place on Tuesday October 27 (12.15 - 12.50pm) .

Sign up to attend this free online event via our Eventbrite page

Our final webinar focuses on the archaeological works carried out at St Mary's Church in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire.

An Introduction to St Mary's in Stoke Mandeville on Wednesday October 28 (12.15 - 12.50pm) will be led by Guy Hunt, Partner at LP Archaeology, alongside experts from HS2 and Fusion. Guy and the team will explain how the site is a fantastic opportunity for archaeologists to examine and understand a landscape which has been occupied by humans for thousands of years, dating back to the Bronze Age.

The team will be available to answer your questions during a live Q&A chat option.

Please be warned that the presentation will contain images of human remains (skeletons).

Sign up to attend this free online event via our Eventbrite page

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

To ensure that the local road network is fit for purpose when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, we are expanding and improving the existing network and creating new routes on HS2 land.

These works will be concentrated on and around Northway Island, on the B4438 and Northway. To link the new network with existing routes, we’re building four connecting highways bridges. The first of these new bridges – a 65-metre structure spanning the width of the M42 – was successfully installed in August 2020.

To safely install the next bridge deck over the A446, we will close sections of the A452 Chester Road and A446 Stonebridge Road for one weekend.

Sections of the A452 Chester Road (northbound) and A446 Stonebridge Road (northbound and southbound) between Stonebridge Island and M6 Junction 4 will be closed to traffic after evening rush hour on Friday 23 October 2020, and reopen before morning rush hour on Monday 26 October 2020. If work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the A452 and A446 earlier if possible.

During the temporary closure, diversions will be in place and clear signage will be displayed along the route for drivers. For full details of the road closures and diversion routes, please visit the Highways England website .

Click here to view the works notification , including a map.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

For further information please see our notification

If you have question about HS2 and our works please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org. uk

On Wednesday 30 September , we informed you that we were planning to implement temporary night time road closures on a section of the A45 Service Road and East Way. The works were due to take place 9pm – 5am, from Monday 12 October through to Thursday 15 October. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have had to postpone these works. We will reschedule these temporary night time road closures within the next six weeks.

We’ll inform you of the revised dates in due course.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

To find out more, see our works notification .

Traffic Management on Coleshill Heath Road, 19th October to 30th October 2020

In June this year we sent out a notification to outline work BBV are completing in the compound area off Coleshill Heath Road. To help continue with these works, BBV will be installing temporary traffic lights on Coleshill Heath Road from 19th October 2020.

The temporary traffic lights will be in place 9:30am – 3:30pm, Monday – Friday for two weeks until Friday 30th October. The temporary traffic lights will enable our contractors to complete utility surveys and the enabling works for our compound in the area.

To find out more, see our works notification .

This schedule is subject to change depending on site and weather conditions. We’ll keep you informed of any adjustments at: www.hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The road and public right of way will be closed from 26 October 2020 for a period of up to nine months. A diversion will be in place for cyclists and road users. A diversion notification for the PRoW will be placed at SM24 access points providing details of the alternative PRoW routes available. For more information, including maps showing the closure and diversion routes, please see our notification .

Access will be maintained for businesses and residents within the section of the road that is closed. We will be installing “Businesses open as usual” signs for businesses leading up to the road closure.

To find out more, please register for our webinar on Wednesday 28 October from 18.00 to 20.00 . During this online engagement event our experts, and contractors BBV, will be available to answer your questions and provide a background to the works around construction of the Long Itchington Wood Tunnel South Portal.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

For more information, including a map showing the extents of the night-time and closure and the diversion routes, please see our notification .

24-hour temporary traffic lights on a short section of the A452 from 12 October 2020 for four weeks

During 2020, our early works contractor, LM, are improving and expanding sections of the existing road network in the area, and constructing new routes on HS2 land, which will connect to four new highway bridges. These road improvements will ensure that when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, the local road network is fit for purpose.

This is an ongoing programme of works, which commenced in March on Northway and the B4438 .

From Monday 12 October, we will operate 24-hour temporary traffic lights on a short section of the A452. An accompanying single lane closure will be installed along this stretch of road, which will alternate between northbound and southbound. These traffic measures will be in place for four weeks, but if our work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen this section of the A452 earlier if possible.

You will still be able to travel along this section of the A452 and we will ensure clear signage is in place for drivers.

The map below outlines the location of the temporary traffic lights and accompanying single lane closure in orange.

This schedule is subject to change depending on site and weather conditions. We’ll keep you informed of any adjustments at: www.hs2inwarwickshire.co.uk

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Early works for HS2 are being carried out by a joint venture between Laing O’Rourke and J.Murphy & Sons, known as LM. LM has been carrying out works near the A452, A45 and M42 since 2018 . We refer to this area as the Interchange area because it will be the home of the future HS2 Interchange Station .

Located near to the National Exhibition Centre and Birmingham International Airport, Interchange Station will be a major transport gateway for the region, providing high speed rail connections to London, Birmingham and the North of England.

Artist's impression of the new road bridge across the A446

We will now close sections of the A452 and A446 in the Interchange area for one weekend to install the bridge deck over the A446.

Sections of the A452 Chester Road (northbound) and A446 Stonebridge Road (northbound and southbound) between Stonebridge Island and M6 Junction 4 will be closed to traffic after evening rush hour on Friday 23 October 2020, and reopen before morning rush hour on Monday 26 October 2020 . If our work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the A452 and A446 earlier if possible.

During this temporary closure, diversions will be in place and clear signage will be displayed along the route for drivers. Visit the Highways England website for full details of the road closure and diversion routes .

Further information can also be found on our dedicated webpage: Improving the local road network in the Interchange area .

For more information about this closure please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The new woodlands will be part of our ‘Green Corridor’ which will see up to 7 million new trees and shrubs planted between London and the West Midlands, supporting delicately balanced local ecosystems running through the spine of the country.

Our environmental experts, as well as those from LMJV and Five Rivers Environmental Contracting, will be discussing the works that are taking place before we build Britain’s new high-speed railway. The session will also highlight the efforts we are making to ensure that we carefully manage our impact on the existing natural environment during the construction and operation of the new railway.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

You can view the new route and signage on the Footpath diversion map .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

September is an exciting time to learn about the mysteries of the past and how our ancestors lived as we host a series of fascinating online archaeology events as part of Heritage Open Days 2020. In addition, a major three-part documentary will be shown on BBC Two from Tuesday, September 15, exploring the discoveries found in Britain’s largest ever archaeological programme.

Before construction work began, and any track is laid, over 1,000 archaeologists, across more than 60 sites between London and the West Midlands, have been carefully uncovering the secrets of Britain’s past. The BBC series, ' HS2 – The Biggest Dig ' will focus on two major cemetery excavations – one adjacent to London’s Euston station and the other in Park Street, next to Birmingham Curzon Street station – the sites of our two new terminals.

For three years, our archaeologists have been giving TV documentary makers, Lion TV, exclusive access to archaeological sites being excavated as part of the project and the series is presented by anthropologist and anatomist Professor Alice Roberts and historian Dr Yasmin Khan.

The BBC series is complemented throughout September with a number of online archaeology webinars to support Heritage Open Days 2020, highlighting some of the exciting finds uncovered along the route of the new railway.

We're holding the following online events (click on the events below to register):

You can find the full list of our online events at www.hs2.org.uk/events .

We will be publishing video recordings of the session online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn about each topic through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel .

HS2 - The Biggest Dig will be also be available on BBC iPlayer .

For more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

You can find out further details about these works here.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

You can find the full list of our online events here .

We will be publishing video recordings of the session online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn about each topic through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel .

For more information about HS2 please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We are proceeding with road closures at the junction from Monday 24 August as outlined in this notice , as we will be working in the middle of roads and under roads for a number of weeks from 24 August. Over the coming weeks, we’ll work closely with affected stakeholders and community representatives to update them on our progress as we build the temporary Greenway as quickly and as safely as possible. This will include reviewing opportunities to potentially switch to other forms of traffic management later this year. We are also looking into working extended shifts – possibly working 7 days a week – in Burton Green to try and reduce the overall amount of time needed to build the temporary Greenway. These options are subject to approvals, consents, site conditions, and new ways of working amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

We also received feedback about keeping a tree on Hob Lane, Burton Green, that is due to be removed to build a temporary Greenway crossing point. Road standards, and health and safety standards, mean we have to remove the tree to build the temporary Greenway and redevelop the junction of Hob, Cromwell and Red Lanes. The constraints at this location mean that we anticipate the tree needs to be removed under all feasible design options to meet the standards. However, we are finalising a number of surveys to confirm this position and will communicate the outcome as soon as we can.

We encourage local communities to keep an eye on the latest news section of the HS2 in Warwickshire website, and sign up to receive news alerts on upcoming work by email. We’ll be holding regular reviews of our work in Burton Green, and we’ll communicate any potential changes to communities through this website and posting notices to directly-affected residents.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.u k.

More details on how we plan to do this and other works in your area are contained in this notice which is also available on the works in your area page.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

To ensure that the local road network is fit for purpose when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, HS2 contractors are expanding and improving the existing network and creating new routes on HS2 land.

On Friday 7 August 2020, junctions 6 and 7A (northbound) and junctions 7 and 6 (southbound) of the M42 were closed to traffic. This closure enabled early works contractor, LM, to safely install a 65 metre bridge over the motorway.

We’re pleased to inform you that the closure of the M42 has been lifted and road users can now travel in both directions. Work to install the 2,750 tonne, 65 metre long bridge, which spans the width of the M42, was completed in just two days and the motorway reopened to road users earlier than planned.

A 448-wheel transporter took just one hour and 45 minutes to move the bridge span 150 metres, where it was affixed to a composite concrete deck to complete the overall bridge structure. Traditional construction methods would have required several weeks of lane closures on both carriageways, followed by additional weekend and overnight closures.

The successful installation marks the completion of the first of four bridges to be built close to the new Interchange Station. It will form part of the major remodelling of the existing road network to improve the circulation of traffic around the HS2 railway line and the new Interchange Station.

We would like to thank you for your patience during this time.

Visit the HS2 website to find out more about the M42 bridge installation .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

To ensure that the local road network is fit for purpose when the future HS2 Interchange Station is operational, we are expanding and improving the existing network and creating new routes on HS2 land.

These works will be concentrated on and around Northway Island, on the B4438 and Northway. To link the new network with existing routes, we’re building four connecting highways bridges. The first of these new bridges will span the M42. To safely install the bridge deck over the M42, we will close sections of the M42 for one weekend.

The area between junctions 6 and 7A (northbound) and junctions 7 and 6 (southbound) will be closed after evening rush hour on Friday 7 August 2020, and reopen before morning rush hour on Monday 10 August 2020 . If work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the M42 earlier if possible.

During the temporary closure, diversions will be in place and clear signage will be displayed along the route for drivers. For full details of the road closures and diversion routes, please visit the Highways England website .

Click here to view the works notification, including a map .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

A weekend closure of the M42 is required to install the bridge . The area between junctions 6 and 7A (northbound) and junctions 7 and 6 (southbound) will be closed after evening rush hour on Friday 7 August 2020, and reopen before morning rush hour on Monday 10 August 2020 . If our work progresses faster than expected, we will reopen the M42 earlier if possible.

During this temporary closure, diversions will be in place and clear signage will be displayed along the route for drivers. Visit the Highways England website for full details of the road closure and diversion routes .

For more information about this, please go to our new page, Improving the Local Road Network in the Interchange area .

For more information about these works please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Registration for our event is now open.

We will be publishing video recordings of our webinar online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn about our archaeological work through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel .

For more information about this event or any of our forthcoming events, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The works in your area page has been updated with new works notices for North Warwickshire and Burton Green Stoneleigh and Kenilworth areas.

For more information about what we have uncovered so far, visit HS2 archaeology .

Throughout the year, we will be holding online archaeology events to share details of the exciting finds from across the line of route. Subscribe to this website to receive email alerts about our upcoming events, including how to register for tickets.

From Monday 6 July, we’ll begin digging trenches alongside the Kenilworth Road on HS2 land. We aim to conclude our trenching in this area on Friday 24 July, but if our archaeology team find anything of interest, our works may be extended. To safely carry out these works, from Monday 13 July to Friday 17 July, we’ll close a lay-by adjacent to our trenching site alongside the Kenilworth Road.

Our working hours will be 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, but our contractors may be on site up to an hour before and after those times.

We’ll dig a number of trenches per day, and explore each for a few days, before filling them back in if nothing is discovered. We’ll work in one specific area at a time in the area highlighted on the map below.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

We will be publishing video recordings of each webinar online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn how to get your business 'HS2 ready' through on our HS2 YouTube channel. You can find out more information about HS2's local business opportunities here . For more information about this event or any of our forthcoming events please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

For the latest information about all HS2 construction works in Warwickshire, including changes during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit the ‘ Works in your area’ page here . If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

All the notifications have been posted on the ‘works in your area’ page, in the North Warwickshire section. You can read and download all five works notification here.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

If your business or community is  near to the line of route between the West Midland and London  and you want to find out more about the funding programme and local business opportunities available through HS2, please sign up to our event below. 

We will be publishing video recordings of each webinar online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn about the funding and business opportunities available through on our HS2 YouTube channel.

You can find out more information about the HS2 Community Funds here  and  local business opportunities here .For more information about this event or any of our forthcoming events please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on  08081 434 434  or email  hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

You can read or download a copy of the works notification Cadent update here .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The public is being invited to go to https://www.hs2.org.uk/tbmvoting/ and vote for their favourite name, from a shortlist of three chosen by local school children and inspired by female scientific and medical pioneers.

The names are:

The name with the most votes will be given to the first TBM, due to be launched from a site close to the M25 early next year. The enormous, 2,000 tonne, 170m long machine will be one of two that will dig the 10 mile long Chiltern tunnels.

The second machine, due to be launched a month later, will be given the second most popular name in the public vote.

The TBMs will be operated by HS2’s main works contractor, Align JV – a joint venture formed of three companies: Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick.

The machines are being built by Herrenknecht in Germany. Their names are being chosen now so they can be fixed to machines during their manufacture, ready for when they emerge out of the factory.

After completion the first two machines will be disassembled before beginning their long journey to England. Once they have arrived on site, each TBM will be reassembled, ready to begin their life underground.

Together the TBMs will spend around three years digging what will be the longest and deepest tunnels on the project, stretching from just inside the M25, to South Heath in Buckinghamshire.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The Archaeology of HS2 – Uncovering the Curzon Street roundhouse , will now be broadcast live from 1pm – 2pm on Wednesday 3 June.  All tickets will still be valid for the session on 3 June, so if you have already registered for the session you do not need to register again .

If you have not already registered but are keen to attend, you can still register your interest in attending this online event .

Hosted by HS2's Historic Environment team, this webinar will focus on the unearthing of what is thought to be the world’s oldest railway roundhouse at our Birmingham Curzon Street construction site earlier this year. The webinar will feature  previously unseen photographs, footage and imagery  captured during archaeological excavations earlier this year. You will be able to ask the team questions via a live Q&A chat option.

We will be publishing video recordings of each webinar online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn about our archaeological work through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel.

For more information about this event or any of our forthcoming events please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on  08081 434 434  or email  hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The report is available to view and download here .

A collection of all our reports to date can be found here .

If you have any questions about the report, HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

You can view a copy of the works notification .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Since May 2019, Cadent has been working to move an existing pipeline near Church Lane, north east of Middleton, to facilitate HS2’s construction and to continue to ensure a safe and reliable gas supply.

We have now finished moving the pipe and have successfully carried out routine testing on the relocated pipeline. We’re currently reinstating our working area and site access to replace topsoil and vegetation that we had to remove to carry out the diversion. The compound and car park area will remain in place as it will be used by other HS2 works in the future.

Cadent expect that all their work at this site will be completed by the end of May 2020.

You can view or download a copy of the works notification Church Lane here.

This week has been very busy, with our contractors notifying us of upcoming works in your area. Please visit the ‘works in your area’ page to learn more about works in North Warwickshire and in the wider Warwickshire area.

Also, don’t forgot to book your tickets for our exciting webinar next Thursday 28 May, on the archaeological discoveries around Birmingham. There is an earlier news alert on this subject below and how you can book your tickets ..

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email HS2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

The Archaeology of HS2 – Uncovering the Curzon Street roundhouse , will be broadcast live from 1pm – 2pm on Thursday 28 May. 

Hosted by HS2's Historic Environment team, this webinar will focus on the unearthing of what is thought to be the world’s oldest railway roundhouse at our Birmingham Curzon Street construction site earlier this year. The webinar will feature previously unseen photographs, footage and imagery captured during archaeological excavations earlier this year. You will be able to ask the team questions via a live Q&A chat option.

Tickets for this event are now open. Register your interest in attending this online event .

We will be publishing video recordings of each webinar online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn about our archaeological work through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel.

For more information about this event or any of our forthcoming events please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on  08081 434 434  or email  hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We previously notified you about potential road closures in Gilson Road. You can read our previous works notification notice . This post is to inform you that the one-week temporary road closure will take place from Monday 18 May.

The closure will take place on the north section of the Gilson Road, Gilson. The road closure will be in place from 09:30 am to 3:30 pm during that week. The road closure will enable our contractors to remove vegetation and create an access point for our test piling compound.

This is an on-going programme of work, as we will establish a satellite compound and a temporary piling platform, which will enable test piling to take place. We expect to be working in this area for 6 months.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk

We will be publishing video recordings of each webinar online, so if you are not able to listen live you can still learn about our archaeological work through a dedicated playlist on the HS2 YouTube channel.

Over coming weeks we will be holding more online archaeology events to share details of exciting finds from across the line of route. We will publish details of these events, including how to register for tickets, on Friday 15 May. Subscribers to this website will receive an email alert.

For more information about this event or any of our forthcoming events please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

You can view the plans on our information booklet , before completing our quick online survey . The survey closes at 11pm on Tuesday 26 May.

Find out more and have your say

To find out more and let us know your views by completing the survey, please go to our dedicated web page here .

If you have any questions about the Water Orton Viaducts or HS2, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

We have created a new, dedicated works in your area page , where all the notices for any current or ongoing works are shown, broken down by geographic areas within Warwickshire. This brings all our work notifications in the Warwickshire area together on one page, which makes it easier for you to navigate and easier for us to ensure all the notices are kept up-to-date.

The website landing page has changed so that our menu of pages are now shown, making it easier and quicker to find what you need. We've also added new pages and information on the following popular topics:

We will be continuing to update these pages as our construction activity in Warwickshire progresses.

Our community websites are intended to provide you with relevant, local information about HS2 works and developments in your area. We would like to hear your views about our community websites and ideas you may have for improving them. To let us know your views, please complete our short online survey before 11:59 on Friday 29 May. The survey contains 7 questions and should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete.

If you have any questions about the recent changes or would like some help using this website, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

Preparations for main construction work on HS2 are well underway. Over the coming months we will continue delivering a number of activities including archaeological investigations, vegetation clearance, utilities work and preparing main construction compounds. This will take place across North Warwickshire and Staffordshire. Click to view or download our HS2 Update: North Warwickshire and Staffordshire, Spring/Summer 2020 newsletter for further information about upcoming works in the area.

As previously announced, HS2 has taken the decision to postpone all face-to-face engagement events and meetings due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, we remain committed to being a good neighbour to anyone affected by our work, and have continued to notify local residents about any activities in their area through alternative methods of communication. This includes direct mail, such as the latest newsletters, which we have sent in the post to local residents that are impacted by our works.

You can find out Information about HS2 construction works during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic here.

Visit the Works in you area for further detail about current or planned works in Warwickshire.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .

A map of all awarded projects is available here . Some of the awards in Warwickshire include:

The independent administration of these funds is managed on behalf of HS2 Ltd by the charity Groundwork who will ensure both funds remain available for applications throughout the construction of Phase One. Read the Groundwork annual review.

Community and business groups interested in applying for the fund can find out more at www.hs2funds.org.uk

We have produced two newsletters which explain what we're doing in your area including some of our works. We've created a newsletter for between Hampton in Arden and Kenilworth and another newsletter for between Kenilworth and Southam.

As previously announced, HS2 has taken the decision to postpone all face-to-face engagement events and meetings due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, we remain committed to being a good neighbour to anyone affected by our work, and have continued to notify local residents about any activities in their area through alternative methods of communication. This includes direct mail, such as the latest newsletters, which we have sent in the post to local residents that are impacted by our works.

You can find out Information about HS2 construction works during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic here.

If you have a question about HS2 or our works, please contact our HS2 Helpdesk team on 08081 434 434 or email hs2enquiries@hs2.org.uk .