High Speed 2 (HS2) Railway Project

The government has announced an independent review into the feasibility of continuing with the costly High Speed 2 (HS2) railway project.

The proposed HS2 track will span much of the length of England in a Y-shaped route, connecting London Euston to Birmingham and forking from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester. The railway is expected to be able to carry passengers at speeds exceeding 300km/h.

HS2 is currently scheduled to open between 2026 (first phase) and 2032-2033 (second phase). The project has attracted concerns about whether it can be built to its current specifications within its £55.7bn budget, in addition to accusations of London-centrism, and questions about its impact on the green belt (including destruction of ancient woodland), and the likely demolition of hundreds of houses along the route.

Last month, the Transport Minister Baroness Vere told the House of Lords that £7.4bn had already been spent on aspects of the project including public engagement, technical designs and ground investigation work. A Financial Times report stated that HS2 Ltd chair Allan Cook has told the government that the project could cost as much as £85bn in total due to greater engineering costs than planned, poor ground conditions and the expense of running trains at high speed.

Now, the Government has announced an independent review into the future of HS2. The review will be led by former HS2 Ltd chair Douglas Oakervee, with HS2 critic and former chair of the Rail Freight Group Lord Berkeley as his deputy. The review will be completed and delivered to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps by autumn to inform the Government’s decisions on the next steps for the project.

“The Prime Minister has been clear that transport infrastructure has the potential to drive economic growth, redistribute opportunity and support towns and cities across the UK, but that investments must be subject to continuous assessment of their costs and benefits,” said Shapps. “That’s why we are undertaking this independent and rigorous review of HS2.

“Douglas Oakervee and his expert panel will consider all the evidence available, and provide the department with clear advice on the future of the project.”

Oakervee said: “The Prime Minister has asked me to lead this important review into the HS2 programme. I am looking forward to working with my deputy, Lord Berkeley, to advise the government on how and whether to progress with HS2 based on all existing evidence.”

According to the Department for Transport, the review will look into the benefits, impacts, affordability, efficiency, deliverability, scope and phasing of the project.

It will give consideration to possible changes to cut the cost of the project, such as reducing the speed of trains, temporarily switching its London terminus to Old Oak Common instead of Euston, building no further north than Birmingham (which would perceived as a betrayal of the North of England), or adjusting schedules for the extension of the route beyond Birmingham.

Preparatory work will continue in parallel with the review, the Department for Transport said.

The decision to commission a review at this time has been criticised by business leaders and both Conservative and Opposition politicians. Former transport secretary and Labour peer Lord Adonis wrote on Twitter: “[The] HS2 review is about as stupid as you can get & screws Birmingham & the North. Classic Johnson. It throws project into flux & will cause big delays, loss of confidence & cost increases. But HS2 will almost certainly continue afterwards in modified form. What a shambles.” He added that the aim of the review was to be “all things to all people” to keep both supports and opponents of the project on-side in the case of an early election.

Leading figures from the British Chambers of Commerce, London First, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) backed HS2 following the announcement of the review, with CBI director of infrastructure Tom Thackray stating: “The business message on HS2 is clear cut – back it, build it, benefit from it. The debate has gone round the houses too many times. While it’s always helpful to review major projects like HS2 to ensure that value for money is delivered, the business case is well known.”

Jeremy Acklam, a rail expert at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, commented: “The review is an ideal opportunity to ensure that the majority of the benefits of HS2 accrue for the North of England. Following the support given by PM Boris Johnson for a Trans-Pennine high-speed line, the review can be seen as a springboard for a nationwide strategy for high-speed rail.

“With the UK rail network at record capacity, additional infrastructure investment is urgently needed, particularly as the number of teenagers learning to drive has reduced by 20 per cent over the past 10 years.”

Greater Manchester Mayor and former Labour minister Andy Burnham said that while he was not opposed to the principle of the review, Northerners may be wary of the decision to commission it. “It feels like we are at a critical moment when the Government’s commitment to the North is about to be tested. People here are watching closely and will demand nothing less than the Northern Powerhouse that was promised,” he said.

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