UK ministers to oversee “dire” HS2 rail project

The UK’s transport secretary has launched an independent review of HS2 and said ministers would be more directly involved in managing the high-speed railway project to try to get a grip on costs. “I have seen up close the scale of failure in project delivery – and it’s dire,” Louise Haigh said yesterday. The Sunday Times reported that the projected cost of the first phase of the scheme, from London to the West Midlands, went from £30 billion to almost £60 billion using 2019 prices, while HS2 Ltd was unable to clarify if the latest overspend was £10 billion or £20 billion. The government also confirmed it won’t take the line any further north, after suggestions of a scaled-down “HS2-light” between Birmingham and Crewe. That could be seen as the bigger waste – the long-term drawbacks of ending HS2 in Birmingham have been declared time and time again.