Ministers are to launch a review of the HS2 as the cost of delivering the high-speed train line has been allowed to “spiral out of control”, the Transport Secretary has said.
Louise Haigh announced on Sunday that ministers would take a direct role in overseeing the new line between London and Birmingham, with the price tag of the project having skyrocketed “without sufficient explanation”.
HS2’s main contractors will also be reviewed, which could lead to some contracts being renegotiated or amended, the Department for Transport (DfT) warned.
The railway project was initially introduced by Labour way back in 2010. But HS2 has suffered an array of setbacks ever since, enduring rising costs, court cases and cancellations. Central to the Tory government’s levelling-up plans, the second leg of the HS2 connecting Birmingham to Manchester was shelved by Rishi Sunak in October last year.
Ms Haigh ruled out reviving Phase Two of the project following speculation Labour was going to reinstate it.
The projected cost of the Phase One line from London to the West Midlands, which is still under construction, increased from £30bn to as much as £59.7bn, according to a leaked document dated 2022/23 seen by The Sunday Times this week. However, in September 2023, HS2 Ltd, which oversees the project, gave an upper projection to the government amounting to £74bn.
Here is a timeline of the HS2 project:
March 2010
Labour transport secretary Lord Adonis makes the plans for HS2 official, outlining a rail network connecting a London terminus at Euston to a station in Birmingham. Initially, this had a price tag of £15.8bn to £17.4bn. Plans for a Y-shaped network with a westward leg to Manchester, and an eastward leg to Leeds via the East Midlands and Sheffield, were also in consideration at this point.
January 2012
The Tories came to power in 2010. HS2 is officially given the green light. Their plans state the line will operate in two phases, starting with Birmingham to London.
The Conservative government also promises: “High speed trains will also connect seamlessly with the existing West Coast and East Coast main lines to serve passengers beyond the HS2 network in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Durham, York, Darlington, Liverpool, Preston, Wigan and Lancaster.”
The first services are expected to start in 2026, with the sections from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds to be operational from 2033. At this point, costs have already risen to £32.7bn.
November 2015
Costs are revised up again, to £55.7bn. The government claims every £1 invested in HS2 will deliver benefits worth more than £2.50 to the UK economy. The route of the eastern leg is later published, with plans for the trains to cut right through the brand new Shimmer housing estate in Mexborough, near Doncaster – leading to uproar. It later emerges that engineers have worked off old maps made before 2011, when construction on Shimmer’s 212 houses began.
February 2020
Prime minister Boris Johnson pledges to build HS2 despite costs allegedly rising to £106bn, according to the Oakervee review of the project. He claims the line is essential as the “spine” of a new transport network to address “the great musculoskeletal problem of UK transport”. By May 2020, HS2 has gone “badly off course”, the Commons Public Accounts Committee warns.
September 2020
Construction officially begins on HS2, starting with the London-Birmingham leg. Delays occur due to environmentalists digging a network of tunnels in Euston Square Gardens resulting in a complex operation to remove them. The railway line becomes heavily politicised, contributing to a shock by-election defeat for the Tories, as the Liberal Democrats win in Chesham and Amersham, Buckinghamshire.
By November 2021, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, scraps the eastern leg from Birmingham to Leeds. The route remains “safeguarded” in case a future government decides to fund the project.
June 2023
The government says services between Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common should begin between 2029 and 2033, with services to Manchester at some point between 2035 and 2041. Construction of the Birmingham to Crewe leg of HS2 is delayed by two years, while work at Euston is paused as costs balloon to £4.8bn despite an initial budget of £2.6bn.
July 2023
HS2 is described as “unachievable” by the government’s infrastructure watchdog. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority warns of “major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable. The project may need rescoping and/or its overall viability reassessed.”
October 2023
Prime minister Rishi Sunak confirms he is scrapping the northern leg to Manchester, with the announcement made at the Conservative Party conference in the same city. He announces he will instead invest in transport projects across the country. In its annual report, HS2 Ltd says it lost £2.2bn on the megaproject’s northern leg in the year ending 31 March, £1bn of which it attributed to lost economic benefit following Mr Sunak’s decision to cancel it.
January 2024
The Public Accounts Committee states: “HS2 now offers very poor value for money to the taxpayer, and the Department [for Transport] and HS2 Ltd do not yet know what it expects the final benefits of the programme to be.” Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer says it would not be possible for any future Labour government to reinstate Phase 2, since contracts would have been cancelled.
July 2024
Labour come to power after winning the general election.
October 2024
Louise Haigh announces she has launched an independent review into how costs have been allowed to balloon “without sufficient explanation”. She says: “It has long been clear that the costs of HS2 have been allowed to spiral out of control, but since becoming transport secretary I have seen up close the scale of failure in project delivery – and it’s dire. Taxpayers have a right to expect HS2 is delivered efficiently and I won’t stand for anything less.”
