HS2 faces two more years of delay amid ‘litany of failures’
Ministers will delay HS2 by at least another two years and outline a “litany of failures” which have led to costs on the project spiralling out of control, in the latest storm facing Britain’s biggest infrastructure project.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander will present the findings of two scathing reports into the project on Wednesday afternoon, including an internal review by HS2’s new chief executive Mark Wild.
She will say there is now “no reasonable way” to deliver the railway line on time and on budget, while not revealing a new deadline for completion.
The Telegraph first reported the high-speed route, which is set to run between London and Birmingham following the cancellation of the Northern leg under the Conservatives, will no longer be completed by 2033.
The transport secretary will look to “draw a line in the sand” on Wednesday and kick-start a reset in how the UK delivers major infrastructure projects.
HS2 faces fraud allegations
A source told the Times that Alexander would also address “head-on” allegations of fraud by contractors on the project and pledge the “consequences will be felt.”
HS2 is currently investigating two firms who supplied it with workers over how pay was handled for some staff.
Whistleblowers have alleged that senior officials within HS2 Ltd artificially inflated cost estimates to ensure money from government kept flowing in. One, Stephen Cresswell, was paid £300,000 in compensation following a case for unfair dismissal at the employment tribunal earlier this year.
“Alexander wants to turn the tide on the whole thing. Wild has been tasked with looking at the entire project and the speech today is designed to tackle these fresh revelations and look at how we move forward,” the source said.
“There has been a total lack of ministerial oversight in the past and we need to change that so the same mistakes are not made on Northern Powerhouse Rail or the Lower Thames Crossing.”
The cost of HS2 is shrouded in uncertainty. Some estimates now place it at more than £100bn, up from an initial budget of £38bn (by 2009 prices).
A public accounts committee report earlier this year dubbed HS2 a “casebook example of how not to run a project” and a risk to the UK’s reputation.