We present observations of the Lyman alpha forest towards B2 1225+317 taken at a resolution of 18 km s ^ { -1 } .
A clean sample of Lyman alpha forest lines is extracted after a careful profile fitting analysis and removal of absorption lines of heavy elements .
The sample is analyzed for statistical properties .
Eighty percent of the column densities are < 10 ^ { 14 } cm ^ { -2 } .
A single power law is inconsistent with the column density distribution and a steepening/break in the distribution is indicated .
The average velocity dispersion parameter is 29.4 km s ^ { -1 } .
We find 3 \sigma evidence for a correlation between column density and the velocity dispersion parameter .
The correlation , however , is mainly due to narrow lines and weakens to 1.2 \sigma if lines with velocity dispersion parameter smaller than 20 km s ^ { -1 } are excluded .
An excess of line pairs with velocity separation \leq 100 km s ^ { -1 } over the expected number is found .