A South West rebellion over high-speed rail between London and the north has been muted by Government promises over transport investment in the region.
A number of MPs from Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset said they planned to withhold their support for the so-called HS2 project, but a full-blown mutiny appeared unlikely.
Many MPs said Labour's support for the new £42 billion link from the capital to Birmingham and beyond had spiked their guns, meaning even scores of Tory and Lib Dem votes against the key legislation would cause limited damage to the Government.
South West MPs have complained the region would get no direct benefits from HS2, while being saddled with a vulnerable railway link and inferior main highways.
But ministers appear to have made pledges to win ease doubts among South West parliamentarians.
Neil Parish, Tory MP for Tiverton and Honiton, has said he "held my nose" because he "did not want to support it".
But he said today he would vote for the Bill as "reasonable" commitments have been wrung out of Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin – particularly over upgrading the A303 cross-country road between London and the South West.
He said: "It's not written in blood, but we have had a pretty reasonable commitment that I will want them to deliver. I think that it offers greater clout if we can say, yes, we supported HS2. I still think it is a lot of money. But we should be investing in infrastructure – and we need to make sure it is not just in the north but in the west as well."
Mr McLoughlin has recently met with a group of Tory South West backbenchers to convince them to back HS2.
Track quango Network Rail is currently weighing up options to improve the rail system in the South West after the winter storms saw the line at Dawlish crumble into the sea.
Gary Streeter, Conservative MP for South West Devon, indicated he would abstain from the second reading but could still rebel on the third reading.
St Ives Liberal Democrat MP Andew George said he would vote for HS2, or abstain, but may still rebel at the later stages.
Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter, is withholding his support, but signalled we would not vote against his party.
Mr Streeter said: "There has been a significant increase in the interest the Government has shown to the railway line in the South West. We need our line to be more reliable and we need an additional or alternative line to keep up with the further pressure that it will come under.
"Network Rail are coming up with a report in July. Unless there is a commitment to funding, whatever they come up with, I will certainly vote against the third reading of HS2."
Mr George said he remained dubious over HS2 "on the basis that we will potentially have a third-world service and the London-to-the-north corridor glitzy first-world service".
He said: "I am in the process of talking to Government for commitments to rail services. At the moment I will be keeping my powder dry, but I am prepared to vote against HS2 on third reading if we don't get those commitments."
Mr Bradshaw said: "Although I support the principle of high speed rail I will not be supporting it in the vote tonight.
"During the winter's rail chaos in the Westcountry I promised my constituents and people in the wider region that I would not be able to support tens of billions of pounds being spent on HS2 before the Government had made a clear commitment to address the frailty and vulnerability of our existing rail network in the region.
"This they have signally failed to do. It would cost a fraction of the money being spent on HS2 to ensure we have a reliable and resilient railway in the Westcountry for the long term, which is why I am withholding my support from HS2 at this time."
