To help improve capacity and alleviate congested local railway lines and in turn aid the spread of economic development throughout the UK; the Government launched the UK’s first intercity high speed railway, High Speed 2 (HS2).

HS2 is the UK’s largest infrastructure project since the introduction of the Victorian railway networks and will change the way in which the population of the UK travel are able to travel in the future.

The scheme will play a significant role in reducing the UK’s carbon footprint, and will support the Government’s target of net zero-carbon emissions by 2050. Pioneering and innovative, HS2 will be delivered via the submission of a Hybrid Bill, and create 30,000 jobs in the process.

Ardent won the prestigious honour of delivering the land access and land referencing services for the Leeds leg of HS2 Phase 2b. This section of the route will improve links between Leeds and the Midlands, expanding UK growth by bringing cities closer together, and offering more efficient routes between Britain’s major cities. HS2 will act as the backbone for rail travel, enabling businesses to expand more rapidly and create more economic opportunities for other areas of Britain.

Since December 2016, Ardent have engaged in survey access negotiations on behalf of HS2, unlocking the land necessary for the projects ecologists to conduct various types of ecological surveys, which will form the Environmental Statement.

The work conducted so far has also included the sizeable task of undertaking land referencing activities on the Northern section of the route, running from Derbyshire to north of Leeds, which forms a significant part of the Leeds leg of HS2 Phase 2.

Ardent has also supported HS2 in engaging with all necessary interested parties and strategic stakeholders regarding the project’s progress.

Ardent have also played a vital role in HS2’s consultation events, where our highly skilled team of Land Referencers and Surveyors have facilitated negotiations between HS2 and stakeholders, and improved local communities knowledge of the project and the projects overall goals.