The High Court will rule later on legal challenges suggesting the government failed to follow proper procedures before approving the HS2 rail scheme.
Judicial reviews have been brought by protest groups claiming failures in consultation and in assessing the high-speed link's environmental impact.
The government has said it "struck the right balance" between people's concerns and the national interest.
HS2's first phase, linking London and Birmingham, aims to be running by 2025.
Even the anti-HS2 campaigners don't think today's judgement will torpedo this project out of the water.
But they do hope that they can delay it to death, picking holes until this government or the next loses interest. And if the judge decides that ministers didn't follow the rule book before approving the scheme, it could well lead to long, expensive delays, although the loser is likely to appeal.
But the government won't give up on its fast train line without a fight. There had been rumours that the chancellor was losing interest in the project last year - not any more. It's become a flagship scheme for the coalition, a chance to prove they have a plan for growth and the guts to see it through.
And don't forget that HS2 was Labour's idea. All the main parties support it. So, in theory, it doesn't matter who wins the next election, it's still unlikely to be ditched.
The second phase of the £33bn project, north from Birmingham in a Y-shaped extension to Manchester and Leeds, could be operational by about 2032-33.
BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott said: "It is incredibly unlikely that today's judgement will stop the project.
"Instead, campaigners want to delay it to death, picking holes until the government has neither the time, nor the money to see it through."
Five judicial reviews have been brought by four protest groups, including several councils and a golf club, that are among more than 70 groups opposed to HS2.
The objections being brought to court also include the claim that the government failed to adequately assess alternatives to the scheme.
The government argues that cutting rail journey times and overcrowding will bring "jobs, growth and prosperity".
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