Truss open to HS2 rail line being axed

LIZ TRUSS has opened the door to the Government scrapping the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has previously hinted at cancelling the multi-billion pound project when she said ministers must be prepared to axe expensive “white elephant” schemes.

But she has now gone further and said the case for HS2 would be examined as part of the next spending review.

Asked if she would scrap HS2, Ms Truss replied: “That’s a matter for the zero-based capital review that I’ll be looking at very intently.”

Zero-based capital reviews require departments to set out and justify every pound they intend to spend.

The comments made by Ms Truss, who is viewed as a potential Tory leadership challenger, are likely to be welcomed by the many Tory MPS who are opposed to the line.

Ms Truss appeared underwhelmed by the project as she told The Spectator magazine: “What really drives local economies is transport around counties. Transport into cities. That’s what makes a difference to why a business decides to locate somewhere.

“We have to be rigorous about what infrastructure is going to maximise opportunities for people.”

It emerged at the end of March that ministers had delayed signing off on the first half of spending for HS2 over concerns about rising costs.

A formal “notice to proceed” on the major construction works for the first phase of the project has been put back six months until December – suggesting the government-owned firm behind the scheme will miss its target to begin building its tunnels, viaducts and bridges later this year.

The order, which would have unlocked up to £27billion for the first phase of the line, was due to be issued in June.

But HS2 Ltd is struggling to keep costs contained within its overall budget of £56billion.

Ms Truss is leading the review of Government spending.

She said in January that she would examine “all major investment projects” funded by Whitehall to judge their contribution to prosperity.