Ministers to oversee build as costs ‘spiral’

Ministers are to take a direct role in overseeing the building of the HS2 rail line to try to “get a grip” on the rising cost of the high speed route between London and Birmingham.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said it had long been clear that the cost of HS2, which could reach £66bn, had been allowed to “spiral out of control”.

She said she had now seen “up close” the “scale of failure”, which she described as “dire”.

“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,” Haigh said.

The government also confirmed it will not reinstate previous plans to run the high-speed line to Crewe and Manchester, which were scrapped under the previous Conservative government.

A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “We welcome the Secretary of State’s priorities for HS2 Ltd and are committed to working with the new Government to improve delivery.”

Adding: “HS2 Ltd recognises that there are many lessons to be learned from delivery to date and, under new leadership, are actively implementing the changes within our control to stablise costs.”

The new ministerial oversight of the project intends to ensure “greater accountability”.

It will involve regular meetings featuring the transport secretary and Rail Minister Lord Hendy, alongside the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

The government says these meetings will aim to “challenge delivery and remove obstacles” with the intention of finding cost-effective solutions.

An independent review of the project by a former chief executive of Crossrail, James Stewart, has also been commissioned.

HS2 Ltd said that it looks forward to the “recommendations” of Mr Stewart.

Official estimates of how much HS2 will cost to finish have changed several times.

The government says that the cost had “soared” because of factors including “poor project management, inflation and poor performance from the supply chain”.

The Department for Transport said the remaining project cost is estimated at £45bn to £54bn in 2019 prices, however, HS2 management estimated £49bn to £57bn.

In January, Sir Jon Thompson, the boss of HS2 Ltd, estimated that the total cost could rise by another £10bn by up to £66.6bn.