The cost of building the HS2 high-speed rail project between London and Birmingham has nearly doubled from original estimates to £66.6 billion, according to the company’s executive chair Jon Thompson.
The initial estimate for the rail project was about £37.5 billion, based on 2009 prices, the executive chair of HS2 Ltd. said while giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee.
Thompson outlined four reasons for the cost increase, including an unrealistically low initial cost estimate and budget, as well as changes to the project’s scope, poor delivery and inflation.
He noted that the scope of HS2 has been significantly changed by various ministers since its launch in 2010, defending costs that exceed the up to £54 billion upper threshold given for the project's costs in a recent document by the Department for Transport.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a Conservative party conference last year that he would axe a planned extension of the HS2 high-speed railway beyond Birmingham.
The government planned to scrap the section of the project from Birmingham to Manchester and reinvest £36 billion from the project into other road and rail schemes.
Following the decision to scrap the planned extension to HS2, the high-speed trains are expected to run from London to the north of England using existing lines more slowly, as they are unable to tilt at bends.