Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has admitted that the HS2 high-speed railway will cost up to £102.7 billion, with trains not running between London and Birmingham until as late as 2039. The figure, the first official estimate in 2026 prices, represents a £70 billion increase and a 13-year delay from the original promise.
Alexander blamed the previous Conservative government for an 'obscene increase in times and costs', stating that two-thirds of the budget rise was due to works missed from the original scope, underestimates, and inefficient delivery. She added that the previous government spent most of the budget without laying a single mile of track.
The government considered cancelling the project but concluded it could cost almost as much to cancel as to finish. To save about £2.5 billion, trains will operate at lower speeds, reducing the top speed from 225mph to nearly 200mph. Plans for automatic train operation are expected to be dropped.
HS2 Ltd's chief executive, Mark Wild, acknowledged the unwelcome news but said the project has turned a corner with improved productivity. The first trains will run between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street between 2036 and 2039, with the full railway to Euston completed between 2040 and 2043.
The original 2012 budget of £32.7 billion was for a Y-shaped network to Manchester and Leeds, scheduled for 2026. The revised budget now includes rolling stock, with trains built by Alstom and Hitachi. High-speed services will reach Manchester and Scotland via conventional lines after connection to the mainline in the early 2040s.
