High Speed Two needs to nearly double its current £2.6bn budget if it wished to complete construction of the Euston terminal in London, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned.
In a review published on Monday, the NAO stated that HS2 and project sponsor The Department for Transport (DfT) “cannot deliver the current HS2 Euston station design within budget”, giving a revised estimate for the project of £4.8bn instead.
HS2 and the DfT have halted construction on the HS2 Euston station for the next two years in order to develop a more affordable and deliverable design. It follows a redesign in 2021 reducing platforms from 11 to 10 platforms, built in a single stage rather than in two.
“As a result of this pause there will be additional costs and overall spend could increase,” the NAO pointed out.
Compounding existing budget concerns are inflationary cost pressures “which DfT will need to manage closely”, the report stated.
Gareth Davies, comptroller and auditor general of the NAO, said: "Government is once again having to revise plans for Euston HS2. Clearly, the 2020 reset of the station design has not succeeded."
Euston or Eustoff?
There are doubts that Euston will even end up being the London terminal point, with Old Oak Common in West London being cited as a possible alternative.
"There is a debate about whether or not it should be Old Oak Common or Euston," Michael Gove, secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, recently told Channel 4's The Andrew Neil Show.
After being asked if HS2 would go to Euston, Gove stated: "I don't know what the final decision will be about where the terminus will be."
A DfT spokesperson said the department remained committed to linking Euston to Manchester "in a way that delivers the best value for money to the taxpayer… That's why we recently announced we will re-phase the Euston section of the project to manage inflationary pressures and work on an affordable design for the station”.