What future for besieged HS2

Ministers will launch a review of HS2 as the cost of delivering the high-speed rail line spirals out of control, the Transport Secretary has said.

Louise Haigh announced on Sunday that ministers would play a direct role in overseeing the new line between London and Birmingham, as the price of the project had soared without sufficient explanation.

HS2's main contractors will also be examined, which could lead to some contracts being renegotiated or amended, the Department for Transport (DfT) has warned.

The rail project was initially introduced by Labor in 2010. But HS2 has since suffered numerous setbacks, suffering rising costs, court cases and cancellations. At the heart of the Conservative government's leveling up plans, the second section of HS2 linking Birmingham to Manchester was abandoned by Rishi Sunak in October last year.

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Ms Haigh ruled out restarting phase two of the project following speculation that Labor would reinstate it.

The expected cost of the first phase of the London-West Midlands line, which is still under construction, has risen from 30 billion to 59.7 billion, according to a leaked document dated 2022/23 and seen by Sunday time this week. However, in September 2023, HS2 Ltd, which is overseeing the project, gave the government a higher projection amounting to 74 billion.

Here is a timeline of the HS2 project:

March 2010

Labor transport secretary Lord Adonis makes HS2 plans official, outlining a rail network linking a London terminus at Euston to a station in Birmingham. Initially, it cost between 15.8 billion and 17.4 billion. Plans for a Y-shaped network with a westward stretch to Manchester and an eastward stretch to Leeds via the East Midlands and Sheffield were also considered at this stage.

January 2012

The Conservatives came to power in 2010. HS2 is officially given the green light. Their plans call for the line to operate in two phases, starting with Birmingham and London.

The Conservative Government also promises: High speed trains will also be seamlessly connected to existing West Coast and East Coast mainlines to serve passengers beyond the HS2 network in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Durham, York , Darlington, Liverpool, Preston, Wigan and Lancaster. .

The first services are expected to start in 2026, and the sections from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds are expected to be operational from 2033. At this stage, costs have already reached 32.7 billion.

November 2015

Costs are revised upwards again, to 55.7 billion. The government says every dollar invested in HS2 will bring benefits worth more than 2.50 to the UK economy. The route for the eastern section was later published, with plans for trains to pass through the brand new Shimmer housing estate in Mexborough, near Doncaster, causing uproar. It later emerges that the engineers were working on old maps made before 2011, when construction of the Shimmers 212 houses began.

February 2020

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is committed to building HS2 despite costs estimated at 106 billion, according to Oakervee's study of the project. He says the line is essential as the backbone of a new transport network to solve the great musculoskeletal problem in British transport. In May 2020, HS2 was significantly off course, the Commons Public Accounts Committee warned.

September 2020

Construction officially begins on HS2, starting with the London-Birmingham section. Delays are due to environmentalists digging a network of tunnels in Euston Square Gardens, leading to a complex operation to remove them. The railway line became highly politicized, contributing to a shock defeat for the Conservatives in the by-election, as the Liberal Democrats won in Chesham and Amersham, Buckinghamshire.

By November 2021, Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, abandons the east side of Birmingham to Leeds. The route remains saved in case a future government decides to finance the project.

June 2023

The government says services between Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common are expected to start between 2029 and 2033, with services to Manchester between 2035 and 2041. Construction of the Birmingham-Crewe section of HS2 is delayed by two years, while work at Euston is suspended as costs climb to 4.8 billion despite an initial budget of 2.6 billion.

July 2023

HS2 is described as unworkable by the government's infrastructure watchdog. Infrastructure and Projects Authority warns of major issues relating to project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or delivery of benefits, which at this stage do not appear manageable or resolved . The project may need to be reframed and/or its overall viability reassessed.

October 2023

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirms that he is abandoning the northern part towards Manchester, as announced at the Conservative Party conference in the same city. He announced that he would instead invest in transportation projects across the country. In its annual report, HS2 Ltd says it lost $2.2 billion on the northern section of the megaproject in the year ending March 31, with $1 billion attributed to lost economic benefits following the decision to Mr Sunak to cancel it.

January 2024

The Public Accounts Committee says: HS2 now offers very poor value for money to the taxpayer, and the Department [for Transport] and HS2 Ltd do not yet know what the expected final benefits of the program will be. Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer said it would not be possible for a future Labor government to reinstate phase two as the contracts would have been cancelled.

July 2024

Labor comes to power after winning the general election.

October 2024

Louise Haigh says she has launched an independent review into how costs could have soared without sufficient explanation. She said: It has long been clear that the costs of HS2 may have spiraled out of control, but since becoming Transport Secretary I have seen up close the scale of the failure to deliver the project and its disastrous consequences . Taxpayers have the right to expect HS2 to be implemented effectively and I will accept nothing less.