The HS2 railway project will face further delays beyond its expected 2033 completion date because of a “litany of failure”, transport secretary Heidi Alexander has told the Commons.
HS2 has been beset by a string of failures and budget overruns over the last decade, including the cancellation of routes ending in Leeds and Manchester by the previous Conservative government.
An HS2 board paper released in June 2024 anticipated that the project was now expected to cost between £54bn and £66bn in 2019 prices – a marked increase from estimates the previous November of £49bn to £57bn.
“It’s an appalling mess, but it’s one we will sort out,” Alexander said in parliament. With regards to the report on the project by the new CEO of HS2 Ltd, she said: “Based on his advice, I see no route by which trains can be running by 2033 as planned.
“We need to set targets which we can confidently deliver, that the public can trust, and that will take time. But rest assured, where there are inefficiencies, we...