The HS2 has come under more fire as costs have soared, with ‘billions of pounds wasted’ and fraud allegations.
Britain’s most controversial transport project, the HS2, has been marred by delays, the cancellation of its northern leg and ballooning costs.
It has made Britain ‘an international laughing stock,’ a minister warned.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has vowed to ‘end’ the HS2 downward spiral.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
She told the Commons today she is ‘drawing a line in the sand, calling time on years of mismanagement, flawed reporting and ineffective oversight.’
The opening of HS2 will be delayed and is likely to be after 2033, she confirmed.
Matthew Pennycook, the housing and planning minister, said there are ‘serious problems’ with HS2.
Meanwhile, the HS2 Ltd and its contractor Balfour Beatty Vinci have referred two of its subscontractors to the HMRC over fraud allegations.
The companies had allegedly hired employees working on the West Midland leg at inflated rates, according to i newspaper.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
browser that
supports HTML5
video
Now, two fresh investigations will scrutinise the HS2 in an attempt to reset the ill-fated project.
The first will be delivered by the HS2 CEO Mark Wild, while the second review focuses on HS2’s behind-the-scenes governance and accountability to decipher what has gone wrong and what can be learned so that the same mistakes can be avoided with future projects like the Northern Powerhouse Rail.
‘HS2 should still stop’
Politicians have not minced their words when it comes to HS2.
Conservative shadow transport secretary Gareth Bacon admitted that ‘mistakes were made in the delivery of HS2.’
‘As (Heidi Alexander) has noted, costs more than doubled, the project has been repeatedly delayed, and the pandemic completely changed travel patterns, undercutting the assumptions that guided the original plans and caused construction costs to rise sharply across the world,’ he said.
Reform leader Nigel Farage called for the entirety of HS2 to be scrapped.
‘Let’s scrap the entirety of HS2 and recognise that we got it wrong,’ he said in the Commons today.
Ms Alexander responded: ‘We are not going to be a coutnry that spends over £30 billion on a railway and never sees a train running on it.’
Speaking to LBC, Matthew Pennicook, said: ‘Because I think, frankly, when it comes to HS2, in some ways, we’re a bit of a laughing stock around the world in terms of how we handle infrastructure. As a Government, we’re absolutely determined to turn that around.’
In a more scathing attack, Lord Tony Berkely said the project should still be stopped after ‘chaos.’
The Labour peer said: ‘Rishi Sunak, after all, cancelled it 18 months ago. That was the previous government but everybody in HS2 seems to have ignored it and the Government’s ignored it by continuing to pour money down it when they should have stopped 18 months ago and they should still stop today.
‘They’ve wasted billions already.
‘I think that the first thing to do is to stop digging when you don’t know what you’re doing and where it’s going to end up, and I would put HS2 into administration. Let the administrators sort it out and then take a clear, simple look at what they want to achieve and get it done in a much more cost effective way.’
It comes after a warning that HS2 costs could surpass £80 billion.
HS2 Ltd, the government-owned company building the railway, estimated in June last year that the project would cost betweene £54 billion and £66 billion.
Ms Alexander confirmed that the cancelled sections will not be reinstated because ‘we can’t afford.’
Where will HS2 stop?
The HS2 will run from Euston through Old Oak Common in west London to West Midlands.
New stations will be built in Solihull near the Birmingham International Airport, and at Birmingham Curzon Street.
HS2 was meant to run to Manchester and Leeds, but then-Conservative government axed the northern leg in 2023, to the dismay of Greater Manchester mayor And Burnham who called the move ‘profoundly depressing.’
For years, uncertainty surrounded the extension of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston.
The extension was confirmed in Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget.
Plans are now being drawn up by the government for Euston station.
This is expected to confirm the HS2 and National Rail services under a single concourse rather than two separate stations for high speed and standard rail.
When will HS2 open?
The first phase was initially due to launch by the end of 2026.
Now the opening date has been pushed back, and is estimated to be beyond 2033.
Ms Alexander confirmed today that trains will not run on the line by 2033, but she didn’t provide an exact date.
When did HS2 construction start?
The HS2 was given the green light in 2012, but it look until 2020 construction began.
HS2 has purchased more than 1,000 homes, farms and land along the route to make way for the tracks.
However, the National AUdit Office warned in 2016 that the project was at risk of delays and exceeding its budget.
Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson recommitted to the project in 2020 following another review
The HS2 got in hot water when then-Conservative government chopped down the scale of the high-speed railway by cancelling its northern leg.
How much will HS2 tickets cost?
The ticket costs could change wildly by the time the HS2 opens, but they are expected to be pricier than a standard rail fare.
HS2 tickets could cost up to 30% more than standard rail travel, previous estimates show, but there are no official figures yet.
The higher cost is likely to absord some of the construction costs and factor in faster journey times.
Inflation at the time of opening will also affect prices and whether the HS2 accepts Railcards.
HS2 declined to comment on the accusations of problems, but it responded to the fraud allegations.
A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd told Metro: ‘We treat all whistleblower allegations seriously and are continuing to conduct our own investigation. Furthermore, HS2 Ltd has formally reported the allegations to HMRC, and we encourage anyone who believes they may have relevant information, which could support our enquiries, to report it in confidence via HS2’s Speak Out channels.’
Commenting on the fraud allegations, Ms Alexander said that if wrongdoing is proven, the ‘consequences will be felt by all involved.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
