(1)The Secretary of State may at any time before Phase 2a of High Speed 2 is ready for commercial use direct that the statutory closure provisions (so far as otherwise relevant) are not to apply to any discontinuance which the Secretary of State considers necessary or expedient because of—
(a)the carrying out or proposed carrying out of works authorised by this Act, or
(b)the proposed operation of Phase 2a of High Speed 2.
(2)In subsection (1), “statutory closure provisions” means the following provisions of the Railways Act 2005—
sections 22 to 25 (discontinuance of railway passenger services),
sections 26 to 28 (discontinuance of operation of passenger networks),
sections 29 to 31 (discontinuance of use or operation of stations), and
section 37 (discontinuance of experimental passenger services).
(3)For the purposes of this section, Phase 2a of High Speed 2 is to be taken to be ready for commercial use only if the Secretary of State has laid before Parliament notice of his or her determination that it is ready for such use.