The project threatening to cost UK taxpayers £100 billion
Key Points
- Two UK Parliamentary committees launched fresh scrutiny of HS2 in May 2026 over escalating costs and slipping delivery dates.
- The Transport Committee questions HS2 Ltd CEO Mark Wild, Rail Minister Lord Hendy, and DfT official Dean Creamer on Wednesday 20 May 2026 at 9.15am.
- The Public Accounts Committee opened a separate inquiry into HS2 and Euston delivery, with first evidence before Parliament's 17 July 2026 summer recess.
- HS2 was approved more than 14 years ago, and a March 2025 interim assessment ruled out delivery in the original 2029 to 2033 window.
- Parliament's committees describe HS2 as a project threatening to cost UK taxpayers around £100 billion.
HS2’s costs threaten to reach £100 billion, and its opening date keeps slipping, prompting two Parliamentary committees to demand answers this week.
The Public Accounts Committee has launched an inquiry into delivery of HS2 and the new Euston station, while the Transport Committee will hold an evidence session on Wednesday (20 May) with Rail Minister Lord Hendy, HS2 Chief Executive Mark Wild, and senior Department for Transport official Dean Creamer.
MPs will likely press witnesses on when the promised reset will be complete, the expected entry into service date, and possible plans to reduce train speeds.
It is more than 14 years since the Government approved HS2, and costs have escalated throughout the project’s lifetime while its entry into service date has slipped.
In an interim assessment in March 2025, Wild concluded that delivering HS2 in the 2029 to 2033 window would no longer be possible and called for a reset to deliver the project at the lowest feasible cost.
The government initially expected the reset in spring 2026 but has delayed it, and the Secretary of State has yet to indicate when it will be complete.
PAC Chair Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Transport Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury met ahead of the new scrutiny to discuss unanswered questions about the project, following a roundtable with the Department for Transport, HS2 Ltd, and other Euston stakeholders.
The committees have published a letter setting out the main themes that emerged from those discussions.
The PAC inquiry will hold its first evidence session before the House of Commons rises for summer recess on 17 July.
Likely topics include the funding, costs, and timeline of both Euston and the wider HS2 project, alongside the community impacts and benefits of each.
