How HS2 squandered billions to become a national embarrassment

It may be a more accurate claim: “We have an unlimited taxpayer money and we will spend it.”

The new General Manager Mark Wild said that the inherited position is “unacceptable ve and that HS2 failed in the mission of“ controlling costs and delivering for the program ”.

“While maintaining security and value for money, we must intervene to reset the program to recover the control of the program and present it at the lowest applicable cost.”

Since he took office, Labour has spent almost a year to collect evidence to fix the crime of the chaos in Tories; Now he must take the pieces and at least deliver something.

Heidi Alexander said on Wednesday that he had drawn to the House of Commons on a “line in the sand ve on the besieged railway project, which he called a“ terrible chaos, and that he had no chance of opening up to the last delayed target date in 2033.

These are key questions and answers.

What is high -speed rail history in the UK?

High Speed ​​Two is a much more ambitious railway project, which initially includes 345 miles high -speed track. The HS2 is designed to alleviate the pressure on the west coast and the east coast, to carry intercity passengers to a private network, to reduce travel times and to increase capacity.

The current West Coast main line, Express passenger services, suburban trains and a mixture of load is the most intense intercity road in Europe. There is no space for expansion and the system has little flexibility.

HS2 began in 2009 as a dream and collected all party support for a project that will combine the country with the 21st century rail connections from London to Midlands and North England. The trains would start running in 2026.

After sixteen years and about 40 billion pounds, after spent tens of billions of more for a shameful line between London and Birmingham, there is no expectation of high -speed trains working for another decade.

The total cost, which was estimated to be 33 billion pounds for the entire project in 2010, is expected to reach up to £ 100 billion for a multi -reduced line: London Euston’s stations in Euston, the 140 -mile phase in Western London, Common, Solihull and Birmingham Curzon Street. Cost per mile? About 700 million £.

What’s wrong?

Wild says: “Construction started very early without conditions to provide productive delivery such as stable and approved designs. From the beginning, cost and program forecasts were optimistic with insufficient provision for risk.”

After signing ridiculous construction contracts that left the taxpayers to the hook for magnificent excessive expenditure, a series of ministers – especially transport secretaries – and repeatedly changed their minds.

The most important parts of the program – Crewe and Manchester northwest leg and Sheffield and Leeds Northeast leg – Balloon costs were scrapped to save money and try to vote from drivers.

A figure stands out in a crowded competition area for the most terrible action of vandalism against the desperate national infrastructure: Rishi altar, who scrapped the connection with Manchester in a speech in Manchester. The Prime Minister of the UK claimed that the saving money would be spent for part -piece transportation improvements, which were collectively called “Network North – – this included projects in Kent and Devon.

Does anyone notice?

Yes. The authority of infrastructure and projects that reported to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury ended in 2023: “There are important problems related to project definition, program, budget, quality and/or benefit presentation at this stage.

The Ministry of Transport (DFT) now says: “The long -standing failure to effectively manage the program means that the folding process that has been repeated under previous governments will not realize the original mission of the program and weaken the remaining delivery.”

According to CEO Wild, thanks to all this, HS2 Ltd showed “inadequate skills and capacity in key commercial and technical functions”.

An example quoted by Transportation Secretary Heidi Alexander: Between 2019 and 2023, HS2 Ltd provided almost 2 billion £ first on the budget for the Euston Station. When a more suitable option was requested, they offered more than 400 million pounds from the first attempt.

“The money of billions of pounds taxpayers was wasted with continuous scope changes, ineffective contracts and bad management.”

When HS2 finally opened, how fast will the journey be?

The current claim is that the journey from London to Birmingham Curzon Street from London will take 45 minutes compared to traditional or even 77 minutes. Initially, the trains will only work from Old Oak Common in Western London. And says Wild, the line can be opened at a slightly reduced operating speed ”. So let’s call it 50 minutes.

“Our high -speed trains will continue to Manchester, the North West and Scotland using the traditional railway network and will cut the journey times.”

However, the initially planned journey will be much longer – almost halved the existing journey – 67 minutes to Manchester – from London to Manchester. Crewe and Manchester’s Northwest’s new line, the last part of HS2 will be a connection to the Handacre junction on the West Coast main line from Birmingham North.

Is there any hope for the northern part?

The lower cost, “quite high speed” connection from Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester can provide some connection. “HS2’s aim is an investment to transform the economy of this country. Currently, the UK is one of the most equal countries when it comes to productivity: London is incredibly high, northern cities are some of the lowest cities in Europe.

“This is about equalizing it and is absolutely true. Does it mean that it should be 200MPH or 225MPH railway? It is not almost absolutely. To ensure the transformation change capacity is much more important than the definitive features developed for the original HS2 project.

“Obviously, HS2 has become a toxic term. A more traditional railway that provides the connection may be the way to unlock what will be a very nodic political problem that provides capacity, otherwise it will be a very knotted political problem.”