HS2 could cost up to £102.7bn and trains will be slower than first planned
The government says two-thirds of the increase comes from missed works and inefficiency, while services are delayed until 2036-2039.
- Transport Minister Heidi Alexander announced a "reset" of the HS2 project, with costs potentially reaching £102.7bn and train speeds reduced from 360km to 320km to save up to £2.5bn.
- Labour inherited a "litany of failure" from the previous government, Alexander said, with two-thirds of cost increases stemming from inefficient delivery and scope underestimates rather than inflation alone.
- Trains will not run between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street until between 2036 and 2039, up to six years later than the 2033 target, a delay HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild called "the only way to regain control of the project."
- Shadow transport minister Jerome Mayhew acknowledged that early project years were "beset with delay and cost overruns," while the government vowed to deliver the line "to completion" despite escalating expenses.
- The reduced 320km top speed aligns with high-speed services in Europe and Japan, while full service from London Euston to Curzon Street and the West Coast Main Line is not expected until between 2040 and 2043.
44 Articles
44 Articles
The cost of the HS2 high-speed rail line from London to northern England explodes: "The world's best railway" became a "massively oversized folly".
HS2 Cost Hits £102 Billion With Trains Delayed to 2039 as Ministers Blame Tories for Obscene Overspend
Britain's next high speed railway High Speed 2 (HS2) bill has been raised up to £102bn and the trains will not run until 2039; 13 years after it was due to be completed. The revised numbers were announced by the transportation secretary in the commons on Tuesday blaming the tories for the new numbers. 'A Litany of Failure' Transportation Secretary Heidi Alexander blamed all of HS2's problems on the previously ruling conservative party. 'I can co…
'Extraordinary failure' Aylesbury Vale MPs react to claims HS2 could be delayed until 2039
MPs, with constituents in the Aylesbury Vale area, have all expressed their frustrations with the HS2 project after the Government confirmed the scheme’s opening is facing further significant delays.
High Speed 2 to Cost up to £103 Billion After More Delays
The UK’s High Speed 2 rail line will cost between £87.7 billion ($117 billion) and £102.7 billion and open by 2036 at the earliest, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said, revealing the latest budget increase and delay to the troubled project.
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