HS2

Firstly HS2 seems to be a misnomer. There doesn't seem to be anything "high speed" about this project.

2009 - The line was announced in January.

2012 - It got the go ahead after consultations in January.

2013 - Concerns over rising costs - Original cost between £31 - £36 billion

2016 - National Audit Office (NAO) report on HS2’s progress and finance issues. The project was facing cost and schedule delivery problems and should be delayed by a year.

2019 - BBC report finds the Government and HS2 bosses were aware the project was grossly over budget and behind schedule for the past three years. HS2 Ltd chairman Allan Cook didn't believe the project could be delivered within its £55.7bn budget and would be delayed.

2020 - Previous chairman of HS2 Douglas Oakervee issued an independent review stating the project could cost as much as £108bn.The NAO added it was uncertain what the final cost of the project could be. PM Johnson gives the project the green light despite rising concerns. Independent Construction Commissioner appointed. MPs warn the project has gone “badly off course”. Formal construction begins.

2021 - Public Accounts Committee HS2 accountability sessions in Birmingham. Major concerns regarding the projected increase in time and money. MPs stating there is “no clear end in sight”. Public Accounts Committee “increasingly alarmed” regarding vital parts of the project. MPs from both sides argue over the Government’s Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), which aims to transform the rail network in the North and Midlands. Clashes within Government and ongoing protests. PM Johnson announces "we will do Northern Powerhouse Rail, we will link up the cities of the Midlands and the North”. The eastern leg of HS2 to Leeds is scrapped with no east-west line linking Leeds to Manchester being built. The Oakervee review of HS2 showed a major rethink was needed, (finds that HS2 could cost up to £106bn), with the National Infrastructure Commission report meaning “a flexible approach” was needed.

2022 - Ministers come under fire for cancelling a £3bn section of HS2, which would have allowed Scotland to benefit from the rail line. 

2023 - Acivists state that justifications of the HS2 project “have gone out the window” after reports that the Euston route could be axed due to rising costs. Department for Transport looks to commission HS2 to rethink its scheme, with the possibility of axing parts of the proposed line due to rising costs. Completion of the project could now be as late as 2045. (The original completion date for the original HS2 was 2033 More delays announced by Thurston in order to curb rising costs, with the route’s final destination yet to be confirmed as central London.

14 years & counting. A significantly worse deal for the North. A cost increase of at least £70 billion so far. 

 

The UK definitely needs a much better integrated public transport system. The most important part of HS2 was the improvement to the Northern cities. Why on earth didn't they start building it in Leeds & Manchester or Crewe? London to Birmingham would only be 29 minutes shorter & it's already direct. It's so typical of this government's London centric policy making. What logic is behind scrapping the Leeds link? 

This has been shambolic from start to not even finish. Its way overrun on time & cost. There have been 9 Sectrtary's of State for transport since 2009, all but 3 lasting less than a year! How can the public expect that to mean good understanding & oversight of the brief? More than 35 contracts were handed to construction firms by HS2 as of 2022. Balfour Beatty recorded an £83M pre-tax profit in its half year results 2022 - an increase on £35M a year earlier.  

It's a recipe for waste & disaster & that is exactly what we have got. Tax payers should be incensed - especially those in the North.