Louise Haigh, Transport Secretary, has announced measures to get HS2 back on track.
The Secretary of State has launched an independent review to make sure that lessons are learned and to ensure that HS2 costs are brought under control.
The review will be led by James Stewart, and recommendations will be given to the government as early as this winter.
This new review will look into forecasting, scheduling and costing so that lessons can be learned for future projects.
The government says that the cost has soared on Phase 1 due to ‘poor project management and the current government, led by Sir Keir Starmer, says that its primary focus is now on the delivery of the Birmingham to London section of HS2 at the lowest reasonable cost.
Phase 2 of HS2 was going to be the section between Birmingham and Manchester, but this was cancelled by the previous Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, and the current government has been clear that it is not resurrecting this project.
To help lower costs, a ministerial oversight of HS2 is to be reinstated, which will see regular meetings where Lord Hendy and the Chief Secretary of the Treasury, will aim to remove obstacles from the delivery of HS2.
HS2’s contractors will also be reviewed, which could mean that some contracts are renegotiated/amended.
“One of my first jobs as Transport Secretary has been to urgently review the position I have inherited on HS2.
“It has long been clear that the costs of HS2 have been allowed to spiral out of control, but since becoming Transport Secretary I have seen up close the scale of failure in project delivery – and it’s dire.
“Taxpayers have a right to expect HS2 is delivered efficiently and I won’t stand for anything less.
“I have promised to work fast and fix things and that’s exactly why I have announced urgent measures to get a grip on HS2’s costs and ensure taxpayers’ money is put to good use. It’s high time we make sure lessons are learnt and the mistakes of HS2 are never repeated again.”
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh
Responses
The price of everything, the value of nothing.
The cost to the country of NOT completing HS2 at the very least to Manchester will be incalculable, and the damaging impact will still be with us long after we would have paid off the loans to fund HS2 in full. Gimmicks like a handful of cheap tickets that Haig has promised for next year will mean nothing when millions of people will continue to be priced off the railways for the next 40 years because we have failed to take the one meaningful action we could have taken to address long-term capacity issues.
The present system of doubling the cost every 6 months seems to be working ok! (wasant it 52 Billion)?
Every time we commission something new, we add more cost. Stop meddling with the thing and let people build it. How is renegotiating a load of phase 1 contracts going to bring costs down at this stage?
How do we know Louise Haig is not going to join the unillustrious list of politicians and civil servants and engage in nothing more than meddling, adding confusion and cost?
Sadly it is too little too late. The concept of HS2 was admirable but the ability to build just was not something this country could achieve.
The ability was there but the plan was flawed. Britain’s cities are too close together to justify a 400kph capable line. But it must be built at least as far as Crewe, otherwise it’s completely pointless.