High Speed Rail Bill Select Committee: Statement by Chair on overall programme

On Friday 29 August we published the provisional future programme. That has now been agreed by the Committee together with the programme for our next visit which will be to the midlands area broadly north of the proposed interchange.
We can also confirm after considering petitions on the Birmingham spur - CFAs 26 and 25, we will then consider petitions for CFA22 – Lichfield - and then work down the route from north to south. CFA19 will therefore come after CFA20 and before CFA 24. We may, however, - but I emphasise only may - consider looking at the London and Colne Valley areas out of order – in other words earlier, to allow us to consider the plans for the Euston development and/or to make better use of parliamentary sitting time. It might, for instance, be convenient to consider a southern area with a smaller number of petitions in the period immediately before the election so that we can wrap up that whole area before any long break.