HS2 cost and timeline to be set out by Transport Secretary
The government is set to reveal the latest cost estimate and construction timetable for the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway on Tuesday, including plans to operate trains at reduced speeds to save money. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will provide the first official budget update in 2026 prices, with project backers hoping the figure remains well below £100bn.
New timetable and cost-saving measures
Alexander will also announce when trains are expected to begin running between London and Birmingham, as part of a long-awaited reset of HS2's construction and contracts. The project was delayed beyond 2033 last year. HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild reportedly submitted the full findings of his review several months ago, and ministers have been considering further cost-saving options, including reducing the maximum train speed from 360km/h to 320km/h, closer to the standard European limit.
Plans for automatic train operation may also be abandoned. This system, which does not replace drivers but is used on busy metropolitan lines to manage train movement for maximum capacity, could be dropped to cut costs.
Critical report highlights 'original sins'
The changes follow excerpts of a critical report by former national security adviser Stephen Lovegrove, commissioned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which listed HS2's 'original sins'. The report criticised the 'gold plating' of the initial design and a 'focusing on the highest possible speeds'. It echoed a review by James Stewart last year into HS2 and major infrastructure costs.
Lovegrove's report noted that interviews with senior officials revealed damage from 'changing objectives and political priorities', and criticised awarding large civil engineering contracts too early without sharing the risk of rising prices. It stated there was 'little doubt that all players felt under significant pressure from ministers to keep things moving'. One interviewee questioned why the government failed to identify and act on the scale of failure at HS2 Ltd and whether the department had reasonable oversight.
A government source said: 'The Lovegrove report further confirms the astonishing extent to which previous Conservative governments had totally lost control of HS2, frittering billions of taxpayer's money away and leaving the project no closer to being finished than when it started. It has been a sorry mess, but this government has done the hard yards to pull the project out of the dirt and deliver the better connections that have long been promised to the Midlands.'
Background of the HS2 project
The project was first approved by the coalition government in January 2012 with a £32bn budget for a Y-shaped line to Manchester and Leeds, but was cut back to a single line between London and Birmingham in 2023. Designs for the eventual London Euston terminus are still pending.
