Initially, the Department for Transport (DfT) proposed to create the HS2 in two phases: Phase 1 being from London to the West Midlands (including Birmingham) and Phase 2 taking the line further North. In 2015, Phase 2 was split into two stages: Phase 2a will be from the West Midlands to Crewe. And Phase 2b will have two legs: one from Crewe to Manchester and the other from the West Midlands to Leeds and South Yorkshire.
The map on the right uses magenta for Phase 1, yellow for Phase 2a, red for Phase 2b.

This web page provides maps showing the route of Phase 2a. Data for the preferred route for Phase 2a was published by the Department for Transport (DfT) on January 7th 2016. This web page has maps showing this route. You can choose the underlying map to be from OpenStreetMap or Bing. The route on these maps should be accurate as it is derived from data provided by the Department for Transport.

To see a map showing how close the preferred route for Phase 2a comes to some place, type into the box below the name of the place (e.g., Madeley), a postcode (e.g., CW3 9PU) or a grid reference (e.g.,SJ775445, SJ77504450 or SJ7750044500). Then click the search for place button.

If you type in the name of a place, you don't have to type in all of the name and the searching doesn't worry about capital letters. So, for example, instead of Madeley you could type in made and it would find any place that has made as part of its name.

The name can be that of a town, a village, a farm, an ancient woodland or a SSSI.

The DfT has a web page that has links to a collection of maps (dated July 2017) that provide a detailed depiction of Phase 2a, the route from the West Midlands to Crewe.