UK government to set out HS2 cost and timetable reset on Tuesday

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will on Tuesday set out the first official cost estimate for HS2 in 2026 prices, which backers of the project hope will remain substantially below £100bn, alongside a revised timetable for trains to start running between London and Birmingham. The announcement marks the long-awaited “reset” of the high-speed railway’s construction and contracts after the project was delayed beyond 2033 last year.

HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild is understood to have given the full findings of his review of the project several months ago. Ministers have since been weighing further cost-saving measures, including reducing the top speed of trains from 360 km/h to 320 km/h — closer to the standard European limit — and potentially jettisoning plans for automatic train operation, a system used primarily on high-frequency metropolitan lines to manage train movement for maximum capacity.

The reset follows a critical report by former national security adviser Sir Stephen Lovegrove, commissioned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which blames HS2’s failings on a focus on maximum speed, political pressure, and premature contract awards. Excerpts briefed by the Department for Transport cite Lovegrove’s criticism of the “gold plating” of the initial project design and “focusing on the highest possible speeds.” The report said interviews with senior officials showed damage from “changing objectives and political priorities,” as well as awarding some of the biggest civil engineering contracts too soon without sharing the risk of escalating prices. Lovegrove found there was “little doubt that all players, certainly at HS2 Ltd and the Department [for Transport], felt under significant pressure from ministers to keep things moving.”

The project was first approved by the coalition government in January 2012 with a £32bn budget for a Y-shaped line reaching Manchester and Leeds. It was pruned back to a single line between London and Birmingham in 2023. Designs for the eventual London Euston terminus have yet to be announced.

Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said: “Whilst Labour talk about cost, you won't hear them admit they handed their union paymasters a 15% pay rise, costing the taxpayer £135m in the first year alone, or the fact that industry leaders are warning that their nationalisation plans will drive up costs by £10bn.”