114-795: The North Wales Main Line ( Welsh : Prif Linell Gogledd Cymru or Prif Linell y Gogledd ; lit. ' North Main Line ' ), also known as the North Wales Coast Line ( Welsh : Llinell Arfordir Gogledd Cymru ), is a major railway line in the north of Wales and Cheshire , England , running from Crewe on the West Coast Main Line to Holyhead on the Isle of Anglesey . The line has 19 stations, with all except two, Chester and Crewe , being in Wales . The line
228-567: A 9.8-mile (15.8 km) tunnel under the Chiltern Hills , to emerge near South Heath , northwest of Amersham . The route will roughly parallel the A413 road and the London to Aylesbury Line , to the west of Wendover . This is a green cut-and-cover tunnel under farmland, with soil spread over the final construction in order to reduce visual impact and noise, and allow use of the land above
342-441: A Welsh Language Scheme, which indicates its commitment to the equality of treatment principle. This is sent out in draft form for public consultation for a three-month period, whereupon comments on it may be incorporated into a final version. It requires the final approval of the now defunct Welsh Language Board ( Bwrdd yr Iaith Gymraeg ). Thereafter, the public body is charged with implementing and fulfilling its obligations under
456-594: A Welsh-language edge inscription was used on pound coins dated 1985, 1990 and 1995, which circulated in all parts of the UK prior to their 2017 withdrawal. The wording is Pleidiol wyf i'm gwlad (Welsh for 'True am I to my country'), and derives from the national anthem of Wales, " Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ". UK banknotes are in English only. Some shops employ bilingual signage. Welsh sometimes appears on product packaging or instructions. The UK government has ratified
570-645: A branch to a terminus in Leeds , and the western branch would have had connections to the West Coast Main Line at Crewe and south of Wigan, and a branch to a terminus in Manchester . Between November 2021 and October 2023 the project was progressively cut until only the London to Handsacre and Birmingham section remained. The project has both supporters and opponents . Supporters of HS2 believe that
684-530: A branch to the Midland Main Line north of Derby for trains to continue to Sheffield. The original scheme also included a through station at Toton , between Nottingham and Derby. The HS2 eastern section was largely eliminated, leaving a branch from Coleshill near Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway station, just south of Nottingham and Derby, where the HS2 track would end, with trains continuing north onto
798-663: A census glossary of terms to support the release of results from the census, including their definition of "main language" as referring to "first or preferred language" (though that wording was not in the census questionnaire itself). The wards in England with the most people giving Welsh as their main language were the Liverpool wards of Central and Greenbank ; and Oswestry South in Shropshire . The wards of Oswestry South (1.15%), Oswestry East (0.86%) and St Oswald (0.71%) had
912-432: A maximum speed of 360 km/h (225 mph) when operating on HS2 track, dropping to 201 km/h (125 mph) on conventional track. The length of the new line has been reduced substantially since it was first announced in 2013. It was originally to split into eastern and western branches north of Birmingham Interchange; the eastern branch would have connected to the Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line , with
1026-482: A mix of new high speed track and the existing West Coast Main Line . The majority of the project is planned to be completed by 2033. The new track will be built between London Euston and Handsacre, near Lichfield in southern Staffordshire, where a junction connects to the north-south West Coast Main Line . There will be new stations at Old Oak Common in northwest London; Birmingham Interchange , near Solihull ; and Birmingham city centre . The trains will reach
1140-659: A new museum quarter, with the original station building becoming a new museum of photography, fronting onto a new Curzon Square, which will also be home to Ikon 2 , a museum of contemporary art. Clearing the site for construction commenced in December 2018. Grimshaw Architects received planning permission for three applications in April 2020. The new station is expected to have a zero-carbon rating and over 2,800 square metres (30,000 sq ft) of solar panels. The plan makes provision for HS2 service passenger interchanges to
1254-575: A new service to and from Cardiff Central every two hours. The line still provides the UK railway part of the through passenger service to Dublin using fast car ferries from Holyhead to Dublin Port . The Welsh Government would like the line to be electrified. Chancellor George Osborne said in July 2015 that there was a "really strong case" for electrification of the line. The Electrification Task Force said that
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#17327717937251368-467: A positive economic impact, and that favourable journey times and ample capacity will generate a modal shift from air and road to rail. On 21 August 2019, the DfT ordered an independent review of the project. The review was chaired by Douglas Oakervee , a British civil engineer , who had been HS2's non-executive chairman for nearly two years. The review was published by the DfT on 11 February 2020, alongside
1482-479: A single discourse (known in linguistics as code-switching ). Welsh speakers are largely concentrated in the north and west of Wales, principally Gwynedd , Conwy County Borough , Denbighshire , Anglesey , Carmarthenshire , north Pembrokeshire , Ceredigion , parts of Glamorgan , and north-west and extreme south-west Powys . However, first-language and other fluent speakers can be found throughout Wales. Welsh-speaking communities persisted well into
1596-464: A statement from the Prime Minister confirming that HS2 would go ahead in full, with reservations. Oakervee's conclusions were that the original rationale for High Speed 2—to provide capacity and reliability on the rail network—was still valid, and that no "shovel-ready" interventions existed that could be deployed within the timeframe of the project. As a consequence, Oakervee recommended that
1710-577: A tunnel bored under Long Itchington Wood, the route will pass through rural areas between Kenilworth and Coventry , crossing the A46 to enter the West Midlands. Birmingham Interchange Station will be on the outskirts of Solihull , close to the strategic road network, including the M42 , M6 , M6 toll , and A45 . These roads will be crossed on viaducts. The station is adjacent to Birmingham Airport and
1824-990: Is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people . Welsh is spoken natively in Wales , by some in England , and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province , Argentina ). It is spoken by smaller numbers of people in Canada and the United States descended from Welsh immigrants, within their households (especially in Nova Scotia ). Historically, it has also been known in English as "British", "Cambrian", "Cambric" and "Cymric". The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 gave
1938-513: Is a high-speed railway which is under construction in England. The line will run between Handsacre , in southern Staffordshire , and London, with a spur to Birmingham . HS2 is to be Britain's second purpose-built high-speed railway after High Speed 1 , which connects London to the Channel Tunnel . London and Birmingham will be served directly by new high speed track, and services to Glasgow , Liverpool and Manchester will use
2052-565: Is available throughout Europe on satellite and online throughout the UK. Since the digital switchover was completed in South Wales on 31 March 2010, S4C Digidol became the main broadcasting channel and fully in Welsh. The main evening television news provided by the BBC in Welsh is available for download. There is also a Welsh-language radio station, BBC Radio Cymru , which was launched in 1977. High Speed 2 High Speed 2 ( HS2 )
2166-688: Is considered to have lasted from then until the 14th century, when the Modern Welsh period began, which in turn is divided into Early and Late Modern Welsh. The word Welsh is a descendant, via Old English wealh, wielisc , of the Proto-Germanic word * Walhaz , which was derived from the name of the Celtic people known to the Romans as Volcae and which came to refer to speakers of Celtic languages, and then indiscriminately to
2280-517: Is immediately adjacent to Moor Street station , and approximately 400 metres (0.25 mi) northeast of New Street station , which is separated from Curzon and Moor streets by the Bull Ring . Passenger interchange with Moor Street would be at street level, across Moor Street Queensway; interchange with New Street would be via a pedestrian walkway between Moor Street and New Street (opened in 2013). In September 2018, one of Birmingham's oldest pubs,
2394-603: Is not currently electrified, so Avanti West Coast, the current operator of the West Coast Partnership franchise, currently uses Class 221 Super Voyagers and Class 805 Evero units, which they have done in the case of the former since December 2007 and the latter since June 2024, on routes to Holyhead. Plans to electrify the line were announced in October 2023. The line contains several notable engineering structures, including Conwy railway bridge across
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#17327717937252508-511: Is the label attached to the Welsh of the 12th to 14th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This is the language of nearly all surviving early manuscripts of the Mabinogion , although the tales themselves are certainly much older. It is also the language of the existing Welsh law manuscripts. Middle Welsh is reasonably intelligible to a modern-day Welsh speaker. The Bible translations into Welsh helped maintain
2622-622: Is the shortest on the route and will take passengers underneath an ancient woodland. The Bromford tunnel will take trains into Birmingham city centre . In April 2023, HS2 announced that work on the Euston tunnels linking Old Oak Common to Euston was being deferred and that tunnel-boring had been rescheduled to start in summer 2025. In October 2023, the Government announced that any Euston terminus would not be government-funded. However, in May 2024,
2736-732: The Cynfeirdd or "Early Poets" – is generally considered to date to the Primitive Welsh period. However, much of this poetry was supposedly composed in the Hen Ogledd , raising further questions about the dating of the material and language in which it was originally composed. This discretion stems from the fact that Cumbric was widely believed to have been the language used in Hen Ogledd. An 8th-century inscription in Tywyn shows
2850-500: The 2016 Australian census , 1,688 people noted that they spoke Welsh. In the 2011 Canadian census , 3,885 people reported Welsh as their first language . According to the 2021 Canadian census , 1,130 people noted that Welsh was their mother tongue. The 2018 New Zealand census noted that 1,083 people in New Zealand spoke Welsh. The American Community Survey 2009–2013 noted that 2,235 people aged five years and over in
2964-466: The 2021 census , 7,349 people in England recorded Welsh to be their "main language". In the 2011 census, 1,189 people aged three and over in Scotland noted that Welsh was a language (other than English) that they used at home. It is believed that there are as many as 5,000 speakers of Patagonian Welsh . In response to the question 'Does the person speak a language other than English at home?' in
3078-689: The Channel Tunnel . In 2009, the Department for Transport (DfT) under the Labour government proposed to assess the case for a second high-speed line, which was to be developed by a new company, High Speed Two Limited (HS2 Ltd). In December 2010, following a review by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition , a route was proposed, subject to public consultation, based on a Y-shaped route from London to Birmingham with branches to Leeds and Manchester , as originally put forward by
3192-617: The Elizabeth Line and Great Western Line . The plan makes provision for HS2 service passenger interchanges on foot to the West Coast main Line and London Underground ("Tube") services via the adjacent Euston tube station and Euston square tube station . The West Midlands Metro , a tram service, is to serve Curzon Street, providing access to onward services from Birmingham Snow Hill , Birmingham New Street and Wolverhampton . There are five twin-bore tunnel sections on
3306-538: The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Welsh. The language has greatly increased its prominence since the creation of the television channel S4C in November 1982, which until digital switchover in 2010 broadcast 70 per cent of Channel 4's programming along with a majority of Welsh language shows during peak viewing hours. The all-Welsh-language digital station S4C Digidol
3420-585: The Fox and Grapes , was demolished to make way for the new developments. The West Midlands Metro will be extended to serve the station. Development planning for the Fazeley Street quarter of Birmingham has changed as a result of HS2. Prior to the announcement of the HS2 station, Birmingham City University had planned to build a new campus in Eastside . The proposed Eastside development will now include
3534-640: The London and North Western Railway . Between Chester and Saltney Junction , the line was, from the start, used by trains of the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway , later to be incorporated into the Great Western Railway . So important was the line in the 19th and early 20th centuries to passenger, mail and freight traffic between Britain and Ireland that the world's first experimental and operational water troughs were installed at Mochdre , between Colwyn Bay and Llandudno Junction. Their purpose
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3648-650: The North London line and Hythe Road on the West London line . Birmingham Interchange will be a through station situated in suburban Solihull, within a triangle of land enclosed by the M42 , A45 , and A452 highways. A people mover with a capacity of over 2,100 passengers per hour in each direction will connect the station to the National Exhibition Centre , Birmingham Airport , and
3762-756: The Polish name for Italians) have a similar etymology. The Welsh term for the language, Cymraeg , descends from the Brythonic word combrogi , meaning 'compatriots' or 'fellow countrymen'. Welsh evolved from Common Brittonic , the Celtic language spoken by the ancient Celtic Britons . Classified as Insular Celtic , the British language probably arrived in Britain during the Bronze Age or Iron Age and
3876-720: The River Conwy , and Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait . The first section from Crewe to Chester was built by the Chester and Crewe Railway and absorbed by the Grand Junction Railway shortly before opening in 1840. The remainder was built between 1844 and 1850 by the Chester and Holyhead Railway Company as the route of the Irish Mail services to Dublin . The line was later incorporated into
3990-553: The South East , as HS2 will reduce travel times from London to Birmingham Airport to under 40 minutes. Birmingham Curzon Street will be the terminal station at the end of a branch that connects to the HS2 spine via a junction at Coleshill . A station of the same name existed on the Curzon Street site between 1838 and 1966; the surviving Grade I listed station building will be retained and renovated. The site
4104-640: The United States spoke Welsh at home. The highest number of those (255) lived in Florida . Sources: Calls for the Welsh language to be granted official status grew with the establishment of the nationalist political party Plaid Cymru in 1925, the establishment of the Welsh Language Society in 1962 and the rise of Welsh nationalism in the later 20th century. Of the six living Celtic languages (including two revived), Welsh has
4218-564: The Water Orton rail corridor, the Birmingham to Derby line through Castle Bromwich , and through a tunnel past Bromford . A key feature of the HS2 proposals is that the new high-speed track will be connected to the existing West Coast Main Line track at Handsacre, north of Birmingham, taking trains north on the existing track. This is the only connection between the new and existing track. This connection allows HS2 services to serve
4332-554: The taxi rank at Euston was moved to a temporary site at the front of the station so that demolition of the One Euston Square and Grant Thornton House tower blocks could commence. The demolition period was scheduled to last ten months. In June 2020, workers finished the demolition of the western ramp and canopy of the station. This part of the station had housed the parcels depot, which fell into disuse after parcel traffic shifted to being serviced by road. In March 2023,
4446-594: The "hugely important role", adding, "I look forward to working with the Welsh Government and organisations in Wales in developing the new system of standards. I will look to build on the good work that has been done by the Welsh Language Board and others to strengthen the Welsh language and ensure that it continues to thrive." First Minister Carwyn Jones said that Huws would act as a champion for
4560-596: The 1880s identified a small part of Shropshire as still then speaking Welsh, with the "Celtic Border" passing from Llanymynech through Oswestry to Chirk . The number of Welsh-speaking people in the rest of Britain has not yet been counted for statistical purposes. In 1993, the Welsh-language television channel S4C published the results of a survey into the numbers of people who spoke or understood Welsh, which estimated that there were around 133,000 Welsh-speaking people living in England, about 50,000 of them in
4674-536: The 1993 Act nor secondary legislation made under it covers the private sector, although some organisations, notably banks and some railway companies, provide some of their information in Welsh. On 7 December 2010, the Welsh Assembly unanimously approved a set of measures to develop the use of the Welsh language within Wales. On 9 February 2011 this measure, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 ,
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4788-486: The Assembly which confirms the official status of the Welsh language; which creates a strong advocate for Welsh speakers and will improve the quality and quantity of services available through the medium of Welsh. I believe that everyone who wants to access services in the Welsh language should be able to do so, and that is what this government has worked towards. This legislation is an important and historic step forward for
4902-581: The Chester to Crewe line was a Tier 2 priority for being electrified in the CP6 period (2019-2024). In 2023, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that electrification of the North Wales Coast line would receive £1 billion in funding as part of the Network North policy paper in conjunction with the scrapping of High Speed 2 north of Birmingham. Class 221 units currently operate long-distance services to Holyhead from London Euston for Avanti West Coast . They were replaced in part by Class 805 Evero units in June 2024. These new units are able to run using
5016-408: The Conservative Party conference that Phase 2 would be abandoned. The cancellation left a new high-speed track from London to Handsacre , northeast of Birmingham, with a branch to central Birmingham. The construction of Euston station would depend on private sector funding: if funding were to be secured for the station access tunnel, construction would be the responsibility of HS2 Ltd. Euston station
5130-407: The Government was reportedly prepared to pay the upfront tunnelling cost of around £1bn to avoid further costly delays to the project. It would then recoup costs from the wider development of the Euston station site. The Northolt tunnels are being constructed with four TBMs; two tunnelling West to East and two tunnelling East to West, with the plan to meet in the middle. TBM Sushila and Caroline ,
5244-434: The Greater London area. The Welsh Language Board , on the basis of an analysis of the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, estimated there were 110,000 Welsh-speaking people in England, and another thousand in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 2011 census , 8,248 people in England gave Welsh in answer to the question "What is your main language?" The Office for National Statistics subsequently published
5358-520: The HS2 eastern leg. The London to Sheffield service will remain on the Midland Main Line, equalling the proposed original HS2 journey times. The integrated Rail Plan proposed a study to determine the best method for HS2 trains to reach Leeds. In June 2022, the Golborne spur was removed from the Crewe-to-Manchester Parliamentary Bill. Without this link, trains to Scotland would join the existing West Coast Main Line further south at Crewe, instead of south of Wigan . The Department of Transport stated that
5472-414: The Midland Main Line to serve the existing stations at Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield, and Sheffield. HS2 trains would serve the centres of Nottingham and Derby, unlike in the previous proposal. Upgrades to the East Coast Main Line were proposed to offer time improvements on the London to Leeds and Newcastle routes. Services from Birmingham to Leeds and Newcastle were planned to use the remaining section of
5586-415: The National Exhibition Centre. North of the station west of Coleshill there will be a complex triangular branch junction, with six tracks at one section, will link the HS2 Birmingham city centre spur with the main spine. The spine continues north from the branch to the northerly limit of the high speed track which is a connection onto the WCML at Handsacre. The Birmingham city centre spur will be routed along
5700-511: The South Wales Rail Operating Centre in Cardiff replacing the manual signal boxes and mixture of semaphore and older colour lights. The places served by the route are as follows: Principal through passenger services are London Euston to Holyhead, Bangor, Chester and Wrexham General operated by Avanti West Coast and Crewe to Holyhead, Cardiff to Holyhead and Manchester to Llandudno currently operated by Transport for Wales Rail . A revised timetable has operated since December 2005 incorporating
5814-455: The WCML outside the village of Handsacre north of Lichfield in Staffordshire . There will be a branch to a new station at Birmingham Curzon Street . There will also be new stations at Old Oak Common , in northwest London, and Birmingham Interchange , near Solihull . The section between Old Oak Common and the West Midlands is scheduled to open around 2030, with the link to Euston following between 2031 and 2035. The high speed track, including
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#17327717937255928-432: The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, all new signs have Welsh displayed first. There have been incidents of one of the languages being vandalised, which may be considered a hate crime . Since 2000, the teaching of Welsh has been compulsory in all schools in Wales up to age 16; this has had an effect in stabilising and reversing the decline in the language. Text on UK coins tends to be in English and Latin. However,
6042-436: The Welsh Language Scheme. The list of other public bodies which have to prepare Schemes could be added to by initially the Secretary of State for Wales, from 1993 to 1997, by way of statutory instrument . Subsequent to the forming of the National Assembly for Wales in 1997, the Government Minister responsible for the Welsh language can and has passed statutory instruments naming public bodies who have to prepare Schemes. Neither
6156-421: The Welsh language official status in Wales. Welsh and English are de jure official languages of the Welsh Parliament, the Senedd , with Welsh being the only de jure official language in any part of the United Kingdom, with English being merely de facto official. According to the 2021 census , the Welsh-speaking population of Wales aged three or older was 538,300 (17.8%) and nearly three quarters of
6270-445: The Welsh language, though some had concerns over her appointment: Plaid Cymru spokeswoman Bethan Jenkins said, "I have concerns about the transition from Meri Huws's role from the Welsh Language Board to the language commissioner, and I will be asking the Welsh government how this will be successfully managed. We must be sure that there is no conflict of interest, and that the Welsh Language Commissioner can demonstrate how she will offer
6384-426: The Welsh of the 16th century, but they are similar enough for a fluent Welsh speaker to have little trouble understanding it. During the Modern Welsh period, there has been a decline in the popularity of the Welsh language: the number of Welsh speakers declined to the point at which there was concern that the language would become extinct. During industrialisation in the late 19th century, immigrants from England led to
6498-429: The Welsh-speaking heartlands, with the number dropping to under 50 per cent in Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire for the first time. However, according to the Welsh Language Use Survey in 2019–20, 22 per cent of people aged three and over were able to speak Welsh. The Annual Population Survey (APS) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated that as of March 2024, approximately 862,700, or 28.0 per cent of
6612-426: The West Coast Main Line. The route to the north begins at Euston station in London, entering a twin-bore tunnel near the Mornington Street Bridge at the station's throat. After continuing through to the Old Oak Common station, trains proceed through a second, 8-mile (13 km) tunnel, emerging at its northwestern portal. The line crosses the Colne Valley Regional Park on the Colne Valley Viaduct and then enters
6726-421: The West Midlands , held talks to "revive the high speed rail project with private investment" after meeting private investors, Mark Harper ( Secretary of State for Transport ), and Huw Merriman ( Minister of State for Rail and HS2 ). Harper said that he was considering the plans with an "open mind". Burnham told the Transport Select Committee of the House of Commons that the gist of the plans were to revive
6840-452: The additional capacity provided will accommodate passenger numbers rising to pre- COVID-19 levels while driving a further modal shift to rail. Opponents believe that the project is neither environmentally nor financially sustainable. In 2003, modern high-speed rail arrived in the United Kingdom with the opening of the first part of High Speed 1 (HS1), then known as the 67-mile-long (108 km) Channel Tunnel Rail Link between London and
6954-403: The adjacent Euston Square tube station , which serves the Circle , Hammersmith & City , and Metropolitan lines. The government announced that this aspect of the project would only commence if the private sector were to agree funding. Old Oak Common station, between Paddington and Acton Main Line station, is under construction and scheduled to be completed before Euston. It will be
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#17327717937257068-530: The branch to Birmingham, is 225 kilometres (140 mi) long. It is flanked by the WCML and the Chiltern Line . Upon opening, HS2 and West Coast Main Line compatible trains will operate from London, reaching Birmingham in 49 minutes and Birmingham Interchange in 38 minutes. Trains will journey to other destinations on a mix of HS2 and conventional track. Journeys to Liverpool will take 1 hour 50 minutes, to Glasgow 4 hours, and to Manchester 1 hour 40 minutes. Trains will progress on HS2 track to Handsacre, then use
7182-408: The census. In terms of usage, ONS also reported that 14.4 per cent (443,800) of people aged three or older in Wales reported that they spoke Welsh daily in March 2024, with 5.4 per cent (165,500) speaking it weekly and 6.5 per cent (201,200) less often. Approximately 1.7 per cent (51,700) reported that they never spoke Welsh despite being able to speak the language, with the remaining 72.0 per cent of
7296-457: The cities of Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow on a mix of new high-speed track and the existing West Coast Main Line. Purpose-built trains will be capable of operating on new and existing tracks. High Speed 2 is to share a southern terminus with the West Coast Main Line at London Euston. Euston is to be remodelled to integrate the new HS2 platforms and concourse with the current conventional rail station. There will be an improved connection to
7410-406: The construction of Phase 1 is worth roughly £6.6 billion, with preparation including over 8,000 boreholes for ground investigation. In October 2018, demolition began on the former carriage sheds at Euston station . This will allow the start of construction at the throat of the station at Mornington Street Bridge, and twin-bore 8-mile (13 km) tunnels to West Ruislip . In January 2019,
7524-468: The country, under the title Network North . The locations of these projects would range from southern Scotland to Plymouth . Money would be distributed in the North, Midlands and South of England according to where the reduction of costs (not benefits) will lie. Around 30 per cent of the cost savings would be spent on railway projects. After it was found that the list of projects included schemes that had already been built or were swiftly deleted, Sunak said
7638-414: The course of the 20th century this monolingual population all but disappeared, but a small percentage remained at the time of the 1981 census. Most Welsh-speaking people in Wales also speak English. However, many Welsh-speaking people are more comfortable expressing themselves in Welsh than in English. A speaker's choice of language can vary according to the subject domain and the social context, even within
7752-489: The creation of Old Welsh, Davies suggests it may be more appropriate to refer to this derivative language as Lingua Britannica rather than characterising it as a new language altogether. The argued dates for the period of "Primitive Welsh" are widely debated, with some historians' suggestions differing by hundreds of years. The next main period is Old Welsh ( Hen Gymraeg , 9th to 11th centuries); poetry from both Wales and Scotland has been preserved in this form of
7866-408: The decline in Welsh speakers particularly in the South Wales Valleys. Welsh government processes and legislation have worked to increase the proliferation of the Welsh language, for example through education. Welsh has been spoken continuously in Wales throughout history; however, by 1911, it had become a minority language, spoken by 43.5 per cent of the population. While this decline continued over
7980-456: The existing Birmingham International railway station . The AirRail Link people-mover already operates between Birmingham International station and the airport. In addition, there is a proposal to extend the West Midlands Metro to serve the station. In 2010, Birmingham Airport's chief executive, Paul Kehoe, stated that HS2 is a key element in increasing the number of flights using the airport, with added patronage by inhabitants of London and
8094-430: The first two of the four TBMs to be used, were launched from the West Ruislip portal in October 2022. The third launched in February 2024 and the fourth followed in April 2024, with the all the tunnels planned to be finished in 2025. The 10-mile (16 km) Chiltern tunnels was scheduled to take three years to dig, using two 2,000-tonne (2,000-long-ton; 2,200-short-ton) tunnel boring machines (TBM). In July 2020, work
8208-491: The following decades, the language did not die out. The smallest number of speakers was recorded in 1981 with 503,000 although the lowest percentage was recorded in the most recent census in 2021 at 17.8 per cent. By the start of the 21st century, numbers began to increase once more, at least partly as a result of the increase in Welsh-medium education . The 2004 Welsh Language Use Survey showed that 21.7 per cent of
8322-487: The government postponed works on Euston station, saying that this was necessary to "manage inflationary pressures and work on an affordable design for the station". Delivery of services between Birmingham and Old Oak Common would instead be prioritised, with the Elizabeth line providing passenger transfer between Old Oak Common and central London until at least 2035, the earliest time at which Euston would be available under
8436-516: The government was considering the recommendations of the Union Connectivity Review, which gave alternatives such as a more northerly HS2 connection to the West Coast Main Line than Golborne and upgrades to the West Coast Main Line from Crewe to Preston . The Department of Transport will publish its response subject to the funding allocated in the integrated Rail Plan. In October 2023, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced at
8550-469: The highest number of native speakers who use the language on a daily basis, and it is the Celtic language which is considered the least endangered by UNESCO . The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998 provide that the Welsh and English languages be treated equally in the public sector, as far as is reasonable and practicable. Each public body is required to prepare for approval
8664-413: The highest percentage of residents giving Welsh as their main language. The census also revealed that 3,528 wards in England, or 46% of the total number, contained at least one resident whose main language is Welsh. In terms of the regions of England , North West England (1,945), London (1,310) and the West Midlands (1,265) had the highest number of people noting Welsh as their main language. According to
8778-456: The history of Welsh, with rather indistinct boundaries: Primitive Welsh, Old Welsh, Middle Welsh, and Modern Welsh. The period immediately following the language's emergence is sometimes referred to as Primitive Welsh, followed by the Old Welsh period – which is generally considered to stretch from the beginning of the 9th century to sometime during the 12th century. The Middle Welsh period
8892-431: The introduction of HS2 will free up space on existing railway lines by removing a number of express services, thus allowing additional local train services to accommodate increased passenger numbers. Network Rail considers that constructing a new high-speed railway will be more cost-effective and less disruptive than upgrading the existing conventional rail network. The DfT has forecast that improved connectivity will have
9006-595: The language already dropping inflections in the declension of nouns. Janet Davies proposed that the origins of the Welsh language were much less definite; in The Welsh Language: A History , she proposes that Welsh may have been around even earlier than 600 AD. This is evidenced by the dropping of final syllables from Brittonic: * bardos 'poet' became bardd , and * abona 'river' became afon . Though both Davies and Jackson cite minor changes in syllable structure and sounds as evidence for
9120-506: The language, its speakers and for the nation." The measure was not welcomed warmly by all supporters: Bethan Williams, chairman of the Welsh Language Society, gave a mixed response to the move, saying, "Through this measure we have won official status for the language and that has been warmly welcomed. But there was a core principle missing in the law passed by the Assembly before Christmas. It doesn't give language rights to
9234-555: The language. As Germanic and Gaelic colonisation of Britain proceeded, the Brittonic speakers in Wales were split off from those in northern England, speaking Cumbric, and those in the southwest, speaking what would become Cornish , so the languages diverged. Both the works of Aneirin ( Canu Aneirin , c. 600 ) and the Book of Taliesin ( Canu Taliesin ) were written during this era. Middle Welsh ( Cymraeg Canol )
9348-416: The list was intended to provide illustrative examples. In January 2024, opposition leader Keir Starmer said it would not be possible for any future Labour government to reinstate Phase 2, since contracts would have been cancelled. This was confirmed in April 2024 by Louise Haigh , the shadow transport minister. In January 2024, Andy Burnham , Mayor of Greater Manchester , and Andy Street , Mayor of
9462-512: The mayors concluded in March 2024 that the best option would be a new line between Handsacre and Manchester Airport , to meet Northern Powerhouse Rail. The cost could be covered by a combination of government funding and private finance. HS2 parallels the West Coast Main Line (WCML), merging with the WCML at Handsacre. The line will be between Euston railway station in London and a junction with
9576-622: The modern period across the border in England. Archenfield was still Welsh enough in the time of Elizabeth I for the Bishop of Hereford to be made responsible, together with the four Welsh bishops, for the translation of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer into Welsh. Welsh was still commonly spoken there in the first half of the 19th century, and churchwardens' notices were put up in both Welsh and English until about 1860. Alexander John Ellis in
9690-657: The new plans. The Colne Valley Viaduct is a 2.1-mile (3.4 km)-long bridge to carry the line over the Colne Valley Regional Park in Hillingdon , West London. The viaduct is situated between the Northolt and Chiltern tunnels. The bridge-building machine was launched in May 2022, signalling the start of construction. The final deck segment was put into place in September 2024. The viaduct
9804-448: The number of Welsh-language speakers to one million by 2050. Since 1980, the number of children attending Welsh-medium schools has increased, while the number going to Welsh bilingual and dual-medium schools has decreased. Welsh is considered the least endangered Celtic language by UNESCO . The language of the Welsh developed from the language of Britons . The emergence of Welsh was not instantaneous and clearly identifiable. Instead,
9918-669: The overhead wires from Euston to Crewe, before switching to diesel power from Crewe to Holyhead. Transport for Wales Rail operate regional services using Class 158 units. These will be replaced from 2022 onwards by Class 197 units. There are two proposed railway stations on the line, proposed as part of the North Wales Metro . The two stations are both in Flintshire : at Greenfield and Broughton . Welsh language Welsh ( Cymraeg [kəmˈraːiɡ] or y Gymraeg [ə ɡəmˈraːiɡ] )
10032-598: The part of Phase 2 between Handsacre and High Legh in Cheshire; trains would then proceed on Northern Powerhouse Rail to Manchester Piccadilly . Burnham said the cost could be "considerably less" than earlier plans if the maximum speed of trains was reduced. The Phase 2b Bill remains in the House of Commons but the Committee paused its work after the October 2023 announcement. A provisional report commissioned by
10146-473: The people of Wales in every aspect of their lives. Despite that, an amendment to that effect was supported by 18 Assembly Members from three different parties, and that was a significant step forward." On 5 October 2011, Meri Huws , Chair of the Welsh Language Board , was appointed the new Welsh Language Commissioner. She released a statement that she was "delighted" to have been appointed to
10260-551: The people of the Western Roman Empire . In Old English the term went through semantic narrowing , coming to refer to either Britons in particular or, in some contexts, slaves. The plural form Wēalas evolved into the name for their territory, Wales. The modern names for various Romance-speaking people in Continental Europe (e.g. Walloons , Valaisans , Vlachs / Wallachians , and Włosi ,
10374-436: The population in Wales said they had no Welsh language skills. Other estimates suggest that 862,700 people (28.0%) aged three or older in Wales could speak Welsh in March 2024. Almost half of all Welsh speakers consider themselves fluent, while 20 per cent are able to speak a fair amount. 56 per cent of Welsh speakers speak the language daily, and 19 per cent speak the language weekly. The Welsh Government plans to increase
10488-471: The population not being able to speak it. The National Survey for Wales, conducted by Welsh Government, has also tended to report a higher percentage of Welsh speakers than the census, with the most recent results for 2022–2023 suggesting that 18 per cent of the population aged 3 and over were able to speak Welsh, with an additional 16 per cent noting that they had some Welsh-speaking ability. Historically, large numbers of Welsh people spoke only Welsh. Over
10602-502: The population of Wales aged 3 and over, were able to speak the language. Children and young people aged three to 15 years old were more likely to report that they could speak Welsh than any other age group (48.4 per cent, 241,300). Around 1,001,500 people, or 32.5 per cent, reported that they could understand spoken Welsh. 24.7 per cent (759,200) could read and 22.2 per cent (684,500) could write in Welsh. The APS estimates of Welsh language ability are historically higher than those produced by
10716-407: The population of Wales spoke Welsh, compared with 20.8 per cent in the 2001 census , and 18.5 per cent in the 1991 census . Since 2001, however, the number of Welsh speakers has declined in both the 2011 and 2021 censuses to about 538,300 or 17.8 per cent in 2021, lower than 1991, although it is still higher in absolute terms. The 2011 census also showed a "big drop" in the number of speakers in
10830-563: The power to construct Phase 2 as far as Crewe and to make decisions on the remainder of the Phase 2b route, was introduced in July 2017. Phase 2a received royal assent in February 2021. The High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill for Phase 2b was paused under the Sunak ministry . One of the stated aims of the project is to increase the capacity of the railway network. It is envisaged that
10944-616: The previous Labour government, with alterations designed to minimise the visual, noise, and other environmental impacts of the line. In January 2012, the Secretary of State for Transport announced that HS2 would go ahead in two phases and the legislative process would be achieved through two hybrid bills . The High Speed Rail (London - West Midlands) Act 2017 , authorising the construction of Phase 1, passed both Houses of Parliament and received Royal Assent in February 2017. A Phase 2a High Speed Rail (West Midlands - Crewe) Bill , seeking
11058-611: The programme to be". This report was clarified to mean following the cancellation of Phase 2. On 18 November 2021, the government's delayed Integrated Rail Plan was published. The plan significantly affected parts of the HS2 programme, including curtailing much of the eastern leg. Under the original proposal for the eastern leg, the high-speed line would have been built with a link to the East Coast Main Line south of York for trains to continue to Newcastle. A branch would take trains into Leeds. There would also have been
11172-466: The project go ahead as planned, subject to a series of further recommendations. After concluding that the project should proceed, the review recommended a further review of HS2 that would be undertaken by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and would concentrate on reducing costs and over-specification. On 15 April 2020, formal approval was given to construction companies to start work on
11286-554: The project. In July 2023 the Infrastructure Projects Authority annual report gave Phases 1 and 2A project a "red" rating , meaning "Successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable. There are major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable. The project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed." Measures such as reducing
11400-542: The required fresh approach to this new role." Huws started her role as the Welsh Language Commissioner on 1 April 2012. Local councils and the Senedd use Welsh, issuing Welsh versions of their literature, to varying degrees. Road signs in Wales are in Welsh and English. Prior to 2016, the choice of which language to display first was the responsibility of the local council. Since then, as part of
11514-540: The route from London to Birmingham. The Euston tunnel will take passengers from Euston station to Old Oak Common station . The Northolt tunnel will cover the area between Old Oak Common and the Colne Valley Viaduct in West Ruislip. The Chiltern tunnel will be the longest tunnel on the route and will travel 10 miles (16 km) underneath the Chiltern Hills . The Long Itchington Wood tunnel
11628-637: The second bore in November 2022, and finished it in March 2023. The Bromford tunnels from Water Orton in North Warwickshire to Birmingham are being bored by TBMs Mary Ann and Elizabeth. Mary Ann started tunnelling in June 2023 and will finish in 2024, while Elizabeth started in March 2024 and will finish in Autumn 2025. The main stages of construction officially began on 4 September 2020, following previous delays. The civil engineering aspect of
11742-651: The shift occurred over a long period, with some historians claiming that it had happened by as late as the 9th century , with a watershed moment being that proposed by linguist Kenneth H. Jackson , the Battle of Dyrham , a military battle between the West Saxons and the Britons in 577 AD, which split the South Western British from direct overland contact with the Welsh. Four periods are identified in
11856-474: The speed of trains and their frequency, and general cost-cutting predominately affecting Phase 2b, would be assessed. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee , in a January 2024 report, in relation to the revised planned route, stated that: "HS2 now offers very poor value for money to the taxpayer, and the Department [for Transport] and HS2 Ltd do not yet know what it expects the final benefits of
11970-477: The temporary London terminus of HS2 until Euston is completed. There will be connections with the Elizabeth Line , Heathrow Express to Heathrow Airport , and the Great Western Main Line to Reading , South West England , and South Wales . Old Oak Common railway station will also be connected, via out of station interchanges , with London Overground stations at Old Oak Common Lane on
12084-506: The tunnels for agriculture. After passing west of Aylesbury , the route will pass through the corridor of the former Great Central Main Line , joining the alignment north of Quainton Road to travel through rural Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire up to Mixbury , south of Brackley , from where it will cross the A43 and open countryside through South Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, passing immediately south of Southam . After progressing through
12198-526: The use of Welsh in daily life, and standardised spelling. The New Testament was translated by William Salesbury in 1567, and the complete Bible by William Morgan in 1588. Modern Welsh is subdivided into Early Modern Welsh and Late Modern Welsh. Early Modern Welsh ran from the 15th century through to the end of the 16th century, and the Late Modern Welsh period roughly dates from the 16th century onwards. Contemporary Welsh differs greatly from
12312-622: Was complete by around AD 550, and labelled the period between then and about AD 800 "Primitive Welsh". This Primitive Welsh may have been spoken in both Wales and the Hen Ogledd ('Old North') – the Brittonic-speaking areas of what are now northern England and southern Scotland – and therefore may have been the ancestor of Cumbric as well as Welsh. Jackson, however, believed that the two varieties were already distinct by that time. The earliest Welsh poetry – that attributed to
12426-400: Was completed on a 17-metre (56 ft)-high headwall at the southern portal of the twin-bore tunnel. The tunnels are lined with concrete that is cast in sections at a purpose-built facility at the southern portal; the first sections were cast in March 2021. Tunnelling began in May 2021, with TBM Florence , moving at a speed of up to 15 m (49 ft) per day. The second TBM, Cecilia ,
12540-410: Was initially proposed to have 11 platforms to accommodate HS2 trains. There is a reduction to six platforms, as a proposal from October 2023 will cap the throughput to 9–11 trains per hour, rather than the 18 of which the HS2 track would otherwise be capable. Sunak said the £36 billion saved by not building the northern leg of HS2 would instead be spent on roads, buses, and railways in every region of
12654-419: Was launched in July 2021. Florence, the first of two TBMs, completed tunnelling and broke through in late February 2024, and in March 2024, the second TBM, Cecilia, completed tunnelling. In December 2021, TBM Dorothy was launched, tunnelling under Long Itchington Wood. It completed the first bore in July 2022, and was returned to its initial position to complete the second, parallel bore. Dorothy started
12768-518: Was passed and received Royal Assent, thus making the Welsh language an officially recognised language within Wales. The measure: The measure required public bodies and some private companies to provide services in Welsh. The Welsh government's Minister for Heritage at the time, Alun Ffred Jones , said, "The Welsh language is a source of great pride for the people of Wales, whether they speak it or not, and I am delighted that this measure has now become law. I am very proud to have steered legislation through
12882-517: Was probably spoken throughout the island south of the Firth of Forth . During the Early Middle Ages the British language began to fragment due to increased dialect differentiation, thus evolving into Welsh and the other Brittonic languages. It is not clear when Welsh became distinct. Linguist Kenneth H. Jackson has suggested that the evolution in syllabic structure and sound pattern
12996-475: Was to enable steam engines (especially on the Irish Mail) to collect water without stopping. Later, considerable stretches of line between Chester and Colwyn Bay were quadrupled to increase line capacity, but these sections have now been reduced to two tracks. In 2018, a £50 million signalling upgrade programme was completed between Shotton and Colwyn Bay. This upgrade saw modular colour lights supervised from
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