'No clear end to HS2 cost and delays' say MPs

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'No clear end to HS2 cost and delays' say MPs

Postby dutchman » Wed Sep 22, 2021 8:13 pm

There is "no clear end in sight" to HS2 costs and delays, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee have said

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The committee is "increasingly alarmed" about key parts of the project, including a lack of progress at Euston Station.

Without a government decision on the station, the project "will literally run out of time", the committee fears.

Euston Station is an important part of the first phase of the rail project, both as a London terminus and as a link to other infrastructure such as the London Underground.

But the DfT "is yet to make key decisions on the design and approach to construction there" despite having the necessary planning consents.

This could "lead to yet more costs, delays and uncertainty over the promised benefits of the programme", the committee said.

Dame Meg Hillier, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: "HS2 is already one of the single most expensive taxpayer-funded programmes in the UK but there's actually no clear end in sight in terms of the final cost, or even the final route.

"The project was plagued by a lack of planning and transparency from the start and there are many difficulties ahead.

"This project cannot simply keep sinking more taxpayer funds without greater clarity on the later phases. The development of Euston is a real challenge that must be resolved swiftly now."

The current estimated cost of completing HS2 is between £72bn and £98bn at 2019 prices, compared with an original budget of £55.7bn in 2015 at 2015 prices.

The Public Accounts Committee has been critical of the rail project in the past, and in May 2020 said HS2 was "badly off course" and that bosses had been "blindsided by contact with reality".

The committee accused HS2 Ltd and the DfT of lacking transparency and undermining public confidence.

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Re: 'No clear end to HS2 cost and delays' say MPs

Postby rebbonk » Wed Sep 22, 2021 10:09 pm

Follow the money!
Of course it'll fit; you just need a bigger hammer.
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Re: 'No clear end to HS2 cost and delays' say MPs

Postby dutchman » Fri Sep 24, 2021 3:32 pm

HS2 not ready before 2041, MP Andrew Bridgen claims in Commons

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The first leg of the HS2 rail project will not be completed before 2041, a Conservative MP has told Parliament.

North West Leicestershire's Andrew Bridgen said the claims came from a whistleblower "at the very top" of the high-speed rail project.

The backbencher also said the project would cost £160bn in full, about £50bn more than current estimates.

During a debate at Westminster Hall on Monday, Mr Bridgen - a staunch opponent of the scheme - said: "Experts in the field estimate that the energy requirements of HS2 trains will be five time that of conventional rail."

"Can we have an extended debate on the impact of HS2 on government's energy policy and the level of subsidy this loss-making project will have to be supported with annually if it is ever built?

"Could we have this debate before 2041, which is the date that my whistleblower at the very top of HS2 tells me the project for phase one will actually be able to carry passengers between London and Birmingham?"

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