The cost of the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway project could exceed £100 billion, according to the UK Government, which has also introduced new delays to the first passenger trains operating on the line, years after initial plans were made for the line. A big restructuring of the troubled rail project is necessary – and tough choices must be made – to get it under control, transport secretary Heidi Alexander has said.
HS2 or High Speed 2 is the UK’s planned high-speed railway to relieve congestion on current rail lines between London and the Midlands. It was originally intended to be a network that would link London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, but it has been greatly scaled back, with northern extensions being cancelled over the last few years.
The updated Government analysis found that HS2’s cost in 2025 prices could now be £87.7bn to £102.7bn, a huge rise from the initial £32.7bn (2011 prices) quoted in 2011. The first trains between Birmingham and west London are likely to run from around 2036-2039, officials also confirmed.
One of the key priorities of the new plans is Old Oak Common, a major new rail hub being built in west London. The station will be the temporary London end of HS2 until the station at London Euston is opened. It will link passengers with the Elizabeth line, Heathrow services and the rest of the capital’s rail network.
In Parliament, Alexander attributed mishandling and budgeting problems to being responsible for the spiralling cost of the project for years. She said that the previous governments did not have an accurate assessment of the amount of construction work and did not have a grip on expenditures. A number of elements of the programme are unnecessarily complex, the Transport Secretary noted, and will implement a review of unnecessary engineering specifications to save money.
One of the alterations being discussed is to cap train speeds at 320 km/h instead of 360 km/h, which the ministers believe could save between £2.5bn and £2.8bn. Alexander, however, has already said that the move would cost as much and provide little lasting benefit to taxpayers, even if there was a lot of criticism.
The revised timetable means the full service could not be completed until the early 2040s, when trains will be commuting into Euston station in central London. The Government has stated that its immediate focus is to make the first operational stage between Birmingham and Old Oak Common more reliable, regardless of the length of time it takes for it to be available for passengers. The cost of the UK’s HS2 high-speed rail project could increase to $138 billion, the minister said
The Old Oak Common railway station was located in the village of Old Oak Common, in the Leicestershire and Rutland areas of England. Old Oak Common railway station was in the village of Old Oak Common in the Leicestershire and Rutland area of England.
The government has not yet released the remaining report on the project for the 2026 line. The 2026 line remains the subject of a further government report to Parliament, which has not yet been published at the time of writing.
