What happens next
Dates for the Examination can be viewed on the Examination Timetable page.
Notice of the Procedural Decision has been issued by the Examining Authority to Interested Parties in the Rule 8 letter; this includes information about how the Examination will be conducted and the Examination Timetable as currently set out.
12/03/2024 - Deadline for close of examination. See the Examination Timetable for further information.If you have a legal interest in land affected by a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and:
- have not been identified by the Applicant; and
- did not register to become an Interested Party;
then you can make a request to the Examining Authority to become an Interested Party under s102A of the Planning Act 2008.
Timeline (26 items)

The Examining Authority’s letter giving notification of Issue Specific Hearing (ISH6), details of changes to the Examination Timetable and Procedural Decisions in relation to the Applicant’s change request (PDF, 256KB) has been published.
The Examining Authority’s Written Questions (ExQ1) (PDF, 643KB) have been published. The Deadline for responses is 9 January 2024 (Deadline 4).
The Examination Library (PDF, 847KB) and Examination Timetable shall be updated shortly.
Late submissions for Deadline 3 from the Applicant have been accepted by the Examining Authority

Please note that the dates reserved for Hearings for the week commencing 11 December 2023 in the Examination Timetable are no longer required and these events have now been cancelled.
An Additional Submission from Network Rail relating to Plot 22a (PDF, 265KB) has been accepted by the Examining Authority on 20 November 2023.
A note of the Examining Authorities Access Required Site Inspection 1 (ARSI1) (PDF, 66KB) has been published.
A note of the Examining Authorities Unaccompanied Site Inspection 4 (USI4) (PDF, 74KB) has been published.
The Examination Library (PDF, 1MB) will be updated shortly.

The Deadline 3 submissions have been published.
The Examination Library (PDF, 1MB) will be updated shortly.

The recordings and transcripts of the Hearings held between 30 October – 3 November 2023 have been published.
Action Points arising from ISH2, ISH3, ISH4, CAH2 and ISH5 (PDF, 228 KB) have been published.
The Examining Authority has issued a Rule 17 letter (PDF, 140 KB) requesting further information from the Applicant.
The Examination Library (PDF, 738 KB) has been updated.

Instructions have been sent to those who have registered to participate in Issue Specific Hearing (ISH5) on the dDCO. This Hearing is by virtual means only.
Anyone who wishes to observe the event in real time should use the following link: https://www.liveeventstream.online/planning-inspectorate-hearings/hinckley-national-rail
Please note that the event will start streaming when opened by the Examining Authority. If the Livestream does not initially work, it may be resolved by refreshing the webpage.
The recording of Open Floor Hearing 1 (OFH1) has been published.

Instructions shall be sent to those who have registered to participate in the Hearings scheduled for next week, approximately one day before the event is being held.
Details of these events can be found in the examination timetable.
Agendas for these events have also been published.
Anyone who wishes to observe the event in real time should use the following link: https://www.liveeventstream.online/planning-inspectorate-hearings/hinckley-national-rail
Please note that the event will start streaming when opened by the Examining Authority. If the Livestream does not initially work, it may be resolved by refreshing the webpage.
The following documents have now been published:
- A Rule 8(3) letter from the Examining Authority (PDF, 197KB) giving notice of a variation to the Examination Timetable.
- Deadline 2 Submissions
The Examination Library (PDF, 561KB) will be updated shortly

The agendas for the Hearings scheduled to take place during the week commencing 30 October 2023 have been published.
The Examination Library (PDF, 561KB) has been updated.

The following documents have recently been published:
Rule 8 Letter – notification of timetable for the examination (PDF, 854KB)
Rule 17 letter requesting further information from the Applicant (PDF, 283KB)
Action Points arising from Issue Specific Hearing 1 and Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (PDF, 294KB)
Preliminary Meeting Note (PDF, 405KB)
Examining Authority’s Note of Unaccompanied Site Inspection 2 (USI2) (PDF, 211KB)

The Examination Timetable (Rule 8 letter) has been sent to Interested Parties
Procedural decision following Preliminary Meeting

The recordings and transcripts of Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) have now been published.

The recordings and transcripts of Issue Specific Hearing 1 (ISH1) have now been published.

Instructions have been sent to those who have registered to participate in Compulsory Acquisition Hearing 1 (CAH1) scheduled for Thursday 14 September 2023.
Anyone who wishes to observe the event in real time should use the following link: https://cvslivestream.co.uk/hinkleyrail/
Please note that the event will start streaming when opened by the Examining Authority. If the Livestream does not initially work, it may be resolved by refreshing the webpage.
The following have now been published:

- Preliminary Meeting takes place
- Examination begins

Instructions have been sent to those who have registered to participate in the Preliminary Meeting (PM) scheduled for Tuesday 12 September 2023.
An email shall be sent to those parties that have registered to participate in Issue Specific Hearing 1 and the Compulsory Acquisition Hearing one day prior to the date of those events.
Anyone who wishes to observe the events in real time should use the following link: https://cvslivestream.co.uk/hinkleyrail/
Please note that the event will start streaming when opened by the Examining Authority. If the Livestream does not initially work, it may be resolved by refreshing the webpage.
The Procedural Decision Deadline A submissions have been published.

It has come to our attention that there is a minor discrepancy within the body of the Rule 6 Letter regarding the project email address to register your attendance for the upcoming events in September. For the avoidance of doubt, the correct project email address is: [email protected]
The notification of Preliminary Meeting (Rule 6 letter) has been sent
The letter also includes the draft Examination Timetable and Initial Assessment of Principal Issues.

The notification of Preliminary Meeting (Rule 6 letter) has been sent Read the letter
The letter also includes the draft Examination Timetable and Initial Assessment of Principal Issues.





This application was received by the Planning Inspectorate on 17 March 2023.
