HS2 “needs realistic timetable” says MPs

MP’s warn that £55Bn HS2 rail link project needs a “realistic timetable” as current schedule is “overly ambitious”.

The Public Accounts Committee says “it is not convinced” by the schedule for HS2 rail, particularly that the first phase of the rail line – linking London and Birmingham – will open at the end of 2026 as planned.

In June the National Audit Office said HS2’s first phase could potentially be delayed by up to a year.

The committee also urged the government to confirm the route for the second phase linking Manchester to Leeds, and the costs, with fears that phase two exceeded the available funding by £7Bn.

Last year, following a Cabinet Office-led review of the estimated costs of phase two, the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd identified up to £9Bn of potential savings, but MPs said in the report published on Wednesday that this could not be achieved without having an effect on many of the benefits of the project.

The report says “a great deal of work is still required” to integrate plans for HS2 with other rail investment programmes and the existing network.

Adding: “Furthermore, greater assurance about sources of funding and finance for regeneration and growth is required to ensure that the promised regional benefits from High Speed 2 materialise.”

The committee’s Chair, Meg Hillier, said: “Parliament and the public are still in the dark about crucial details – not least when the railway will open, how much it is expected to cost and precisely where it will go.

“The public must be confident the grand vision for HS2 does not blind the government to the finer points, which have implications for many people’s lives now and in the decades to come.”

However, in its report, the committee acknowledged there has been considerable progress on HS3 since its first report on the project in 2013.

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said the project was “on time and on budget.

“We are keeping a tough grip on costs, and pressing ahead with plans for Phase Two – with further details due to be announced this autumn.”

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