HS2 trains will run slower than originally planned as part of cost-saving measures, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is set to announce. The maximum speed will be reduced to 320km/h (199mph) from the original design of 360km/h (224mph), according to the Press Association.
Despite the reduction, services will still be faster than Japan’s bullet trains, which reach up to 285km/h (177mph). A major review by Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the former national security adviser, is expected to criticise “gold plating” and “original sins” in the project’s decision-making.
Ms Alexander will reveal a new target cost below £100 billion. The project, initially estimated at £32.7 billion (in 2011 prices) for the London to Birmingham line, has seen costs spiral. In January 2024, HS2 Ltd’s then-executive chairman Sir Jon Thompson said the cost had reached up to £66.6 billion.
A new schedule for HS2’s opening will also be set out, after the previous target window of 2029 to 2033 was deemed unachievable. The first phase was originally planned for 2026. A Government source blamed previous Conservative governments for losing control of the project.
An internal review commissioned by Labour ministers found that abandoning the scheme, which has already cost an estimated £40 billion, would cost at least as much as completing it. HS2 Ltd’s Mark Wild warned that cancelling a project of this scale is “unprecedented in the Western world”.
