Staffordshire residents to find out how they will be affected as HS2 route to be announced
Residents living along the proposed HS2 route through Staffordshire will finally find out if and how they will be affected this month - after years of waiting.
Up until now, they have only known that they are on a 'preferred' path of the second phase of the £50bn high-speed rail project.
But the now the route is expected to be announced with Chancellor George Osborne also expected to confirm that construction of the line between Lichfield and Crewe will be completed six years earlier than previously planned as part of the Autumn Statement.
Work will start on the Staffordshire stretch in 2021 and be completed by 2027 rather than 2033.
A new Bill is expected to be launched in the House of Commons to allow this part of the work to be sped up.
Crewe will also be officially announced as a station destination in favour of Stoke, a source has said.
But the so-called Handsacre link connecting HS2 with the existing West Coast Main Line near Rugeley will be maintained which mean Stafford and Stoke will be connected to the 225mph network by hybrid trains capable of running on both the old and new style tracks.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, who grew up in Cannock, is expected to unveil the detail as part of a string of announcements linked to the Autumn Statement on November 25.
Stop HS2 Campaigner Joe Rukin said: "Everyone is expecting within a fortnight people living on the route between Lichfield and Crewe will know the route HS2 will take but we are not certain if it's going to be the one everyone is expecting.
"A lot of people will be looking at the costs and thinking it will only get as far as Crewe."
HS2 chairman Sir David Higgins outlined plans in March last year to build HS2 quicker through Staffordshire.
Work between Lichfield and Handsacre is set to begin in 2017, if given final approval by MPs.
Phase One will see 12 miles built in Staffordshire from Lichfield to Birmingham.
Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy, who has voted against HS2, said he will oppose the new Bill to speed up construction in Staffordshire.
HS2 Ltd said it could not comment as any announcement and decision would be made by the government.
A government spokeswoman said: "The government will set out how it plans to take Phase Two forward later this year."
