Delivery of £100bn HS2 project ‘appears unachievable’, experts warn

THE DELIVERY of HS2 has been given the highest risk warning by Government experts on major projects.

The red rating signifies that “successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable”.

The classification in the latest Infrastructure and Projects Authority annual report was based on a snapshot taken in September and do not take into account the impact of the pandemic.

The Oakervee Review warned last year that the final bill for HS2 could reach £106bn at 2019 prices. Despite it running tens of billions of pounds over budget and several years behind schedule, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave it the green light in February 2020.

A revised budget and schedule was assigned to the project and the Government-owned company developing the high-speed railway, HS2 Ltd, has since issued a notice to proceed to firms contracted to build bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure, as part of the first phase between London and Birmingham.

The Department for Transport said it had “stricter controls” including a dedicated HS2 Minister, and cost and schedule estimates for Phase One are “the most robust they’ve ever been”.

Richard Houghton, director of protest group HS2 Action Alliance, claimed the business case “has always been based on voodoo economics”. He went on: “With future use of trains likely to dramatically reduce as fewer workers commute to city centre offices, it really is time for the Government to listen to its own reports, cancel HS2 and spend the funds on local transport and high-speed broadband.

“This will do far more, far quicker, to deliver on its economic promise of levelling up.”