Written question asked by Frank Dobson (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 March 2015, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 20 March 2015 (named day). It was answered by Lord McLoughlin (Conservative) on Friday, 20 March 2015 on behalf of the Department for Transport.

High Speed 2 Line

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what forecast his Department has made of the number of passengers who will use High Speed 2 in (a) the year after the opening of Phase 1, (b) the year after the opening of Phase 2 and (c) the last year of the planning period; and how many passengers in each such period his Department forecasts will use (i) Euston and (ii) Old Oak Common station to board or leave the train.

Answer: The number of passengers forecast to be travelling on HS2 per day in 2026/27 once Phase One is open is 112,731. The number of passengers forecast to be travelling on HS2 after the opening of Phase Two in 2036 is 302,350. Based on modelling for the economic case for HS2 (October 2013) the forecast number of passengers using Euston to board and leave HS2 services in Phase One is 71,445, and Old Oak Common is 38,040. The forecast number of passengers from the economic case modelling using Euston to board and leave HS2 service in 2036 (3 years after Phase Two has opened) is 158,258. The equivalent number for Old Oak Common is 84,428. Forecasts for other years are not available as the forecasting tools only provide information for two years, the opening year of Phase One (2026) and the year in which the demand cap is reached (2036).

Secondary information