Hold a public vote on HS2 project as it is being paid for by the public
13,949 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 18 September 2020; it closed on 18 March 2021. The Government responded on 5 January 2021.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Hold a public vote on HS2 project as it is being paid for by the public
I would like a public vote/referendum on whether we want to spend in excess of £100 billion on a train project which will destroy or irreparably damage natural habitats and wildlife sites along the route.
To me, the damage & cost to public land, wildlife & nature at a time of Environmental emergency & recession outweighs the long-term benefits of travel. The HS2 project should be decided by the people paying for it, the tax payers. It’s destroying communities & environment.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 5 January 2021; the petitions site lists the Department for Transport as responsible. Its summary:
HS2 will transform, and help decarbonise, our country’s transport network, bring our biggest cities closer together, boost productivity and rebalance opportunity across the country.
The opening 342 words of the 731-word response:
As set out in the Full Business Case for Phase One, the Government has carefully considered the merits and disadvantages of proceeding with HS2 and has firmly concluded that it should go ahead. HS2 will transform our country’s transport network, bringing our biggest cities closer together, boosting productivity and rebalancing opportunity fairly across the country. Once operational, it will provide a low-carbon alternative to cars and planes. During construction, we want HS2 to be the most environmentally responsible major infrastructure project in UK history
HS2 is at the heart of our plans to build back better from Covid-19, creating thousands of jobs and providing certainty at a time when people need it the most. This railway is a long-term investment which will bring our biggest cities closer together, boost productivity and provide a low-carbon alternative to cars and planes for many decades to come.
HS2 has rightly been subject to a great deal of Parliamentary and public scrutiny. Phase One was the subject of considerable debate in Parliament during the passage of the High-Speed Rail (London-West Midlands) Act 2017 (“the Phase One Act”). The Phase 2a Bill is currently being taken through Parliament, and the Government agreed with the Oakervee Review's conclusion that splitting Phase 2b into smaller sections, and more than one Bill, could facilitate scrutiny in Parliament, and make its management and construction more manageable.
The Transport Secretary has made a clear commitment to greater transparency on HS2, and Andrew Stephenson, the dedicated HS2 minister, is reporting bi-annually to Parliament on the project. The Department for Transport has also established a monthly Ministerial Task Force to provide strategic oversight, support and challenge for the successful delivery of Phases One and 2a. Earlier this year, Government reset the funding regime for HS2 Phase One including a Target Cost and funding envelope as well as providing revised estimates for the wider scheme, subject to the ongoing work on the Integrated Rail Plan.
For the reasons set out above, the Government has no plans to hold a public vote on whether HS2 proceeds.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions.json?state=with_response&page=28UK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
69d36d27a9533327… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
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