HS2 has faced a rocky road after rising costs, cancellation of its northern leg and uncertainty over the fate of the London Euston extension, which was eventually confirmed in the autumn budget.
Now the embattled project has been scrutinised by the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), calling for it to be ‘reset’ after alleged failures, including £100,000,000 spent on a bat protection tunnel in Buckinghamshire.
The new report published by the committee didn’t mince its words, saying that the Department for Transport (DfT) has ‘failed in its oversight and financial control’ over the high-speed rail.
There could even be a ‘reputation risk to the UK’ because of the project, the MPs warned.
The group of cross-party MPs who oversee government expenditure said the HS2 has become ‘a casebook example of how not to run a major project.’ It said the government ‘must not waste’ its latest opportunity to reset the programme ‘properly’ to maximise benefits for the taxpayer.
How much will HS2 cost?
HS2’s costs could reach as high as £80,000,000,000 if 2019 figures were adjusted to inflation, the MPs warned – although DfT and HS2 Ltd estimates are much lower.
According to DfT’s November 2023 estimates, the costs could be between £45,000,000,000 and £54,000,000,000. However, HS2 Ltd, the government-owned company constructing the railway, estimated in June that the project would cost between £54,000,000,000 and £66,000,000,000.
The committee also accused the DfT and HS2 Ltd of failing to ‘work together effectively,’ which is ‘starkly illustrated by their continued disagreement’ over the costs.
Even the new chief executive of HS2, Mark Wilde, said after taking on the job in December that the project was ‘in a very serious situation that requires a fundamental reset.’
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the Conservative MP chairing the committee, said HS2 is a ‘cautionary tale that should be studied by future governments in how not to run a major project.’
He said: ‘We are sceptical of the Government’s ability to successfully deliver even a curtailed scheme, one which we already know will on its face bring very poor value for money.
‘The question has instead become: what possible benefit can the Government now salvage for the taxpayer, from a mess that presents real risks to the UK’s overall reputation?’
What is happening with the HS2 leg to Euston?
The future of the London leg of HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston also became under doubt after then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped the HS2’s northern route from Birmingham to Manchester in October 2023.
The section to Leeds had been cancelled two years before.
After a year of uncertainty, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed in her autumn budget that HS2 would run to Euston after all.
Tunnelling work from Old Oak Common in west London towards Euston is set to take around 18 months to complete. It is understood that DfT is now working on a master plan to bring the new HS2 Euston terminus and National Rail services at Euston station under one concourse.
However, the committee questioned how ‘achievable’ DfT’s goal to privately fund the Euston redevelopment is.
HS2 Ltd said it agrees with the committee’s conclusion that the there has been ‘failure in the management of HS2’s cost and schedule,’ adding that Wilde is ‘taking decisive action to get the project back on track at the lowest feasible cost.’
The High Speed Rail Group, an industry body, said it recognised the need to reset the project and that it supports Mark Wilde and HS2 Ltd.
Metro approached DfT for a comment.
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