HS2 line delayed once again due to ‘litany of failure’
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has announced that the opening of the HS2 railway line will be delayed beyond its target date of 2033.
The fraught rail project, which was first approved in 2012 and has since missed multiple deadlines and seen its costs balloon, has suffered from a ‘litany of failure’ which has led to it once again being delayed, she said.
“Billions of pounds of taxpayer’s money has been wasted by constant scope changes, ineffective contracts and bad management. It is an appalling mess, but it is one we will sort out,” she said.
HS2 was originally planned to deliver a high-speed rail link between London and major cities in the North of England. It was initially expected to be opened in 2026 and cost £33 billion.
Over the years, however, the estimated costs rose significantly, and the project’s deadline was pushed back to 2033.
Alexander laid these failures at the feet of the previous Conservative government, under which the original scale of the project was significantly curbed after its projected costs ballooned to more than double the initial estimate.
Going forward, the project is being reset to prevent and mitigate failures of this sort, she said.
“The priority is building the rest of the railway safely at the lowest reasonable cost even if this takes longer. We’ve started the year-long task of fundamentally resetting the project.”
Alexander presented the findings from two separate evaluations, one conducted by James Stewart that examined the failures of the project and extracted lessons for ministers overseeing future infrastructure initiatives.
The other is a preliminary review by Mark Wild, the CEO of HS2 Ltd, which focuses on the timeline and strategy for completing the remaining section of phase one.
She also announced that Mike Brown, the former commissioner of Transport for London (TfL), has been appointed as the new chair of HS2 Ltd, replacing Jon Thompson.
“This level of failure cannot stand. We will learn the lessons of the past 15 years and restore our reputation of delivering world-class infrastructure projects,” Alexander said.
