HS2 completion costs revised to £87.7bn to £102.7bn by 2043

The projected cost of completing the HS2 high-speed rail line has risen to between £87.7 billion and £102.7 billion, with the first services now not expected to begin for at least another decade, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announced to Parliament. The minister described the revised figures as an obscene increase in time and cost, attributing the overruns to years of mismanagement.

The first high-speed services are now projected to run between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street station between May 2036 and October 2039. The full operational line, connecting London Euston to Handsacre Junction in Staffordshire where it will join the conventional West Coast Mainline, is scheduled for completion between May 2040 and December 2043. This represents a significant delay from the original 2011 plan, which envisioned a partial opening in 2026 at a cost of £32.7 billion.

Alexander stated that approximately two-thirds of the cost increase stemmed from past underestimation of the work required, inefficiencies in delivery, and issues within the control of HS2 Ltd, its suppliers, and previous governments. The remaining third was linked to inflation, which she...