HS2 cost could easily soar past £100bn, say MPs

The escalating cost of HS2 has “no clear end in sight” because of uncertainty over the route and key stations, according to MPs. A cross-party report published today (22 September) said there was still the “risk of cost increases” for the high-speed railway, which could push the budget beyond the £98bn maximum estimate calculated by the government early last year. In 2015 the price was put at £55.7bn. Construction started on the first phase of the line between London and Birmingham 12 months ago, but a “substantial amount” of the work is still to be finalised, the report said. The report by the Commons public accounts committee said MPs were “increasingly alarmed” by the lack of progress at Euston station in central London, where HS2’s £2.6bn main southern terminus will be built. Dame Meg Hillier, Labour chair of the 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 Times (£) The FT (£)