Treasury demands further cuts as HS2 busts its budget

The first phase of HS2 is expected to bust its budget by “many billions” of pounds, as the Treasury demands further cuts to the high-speed rail link. An internal review said it was “very unlikely” that the £40.3bn price tag for the London to Birmingham section would be met. Although the first phase allowed for a contingency that would stretch the budget to £44.6bn, the report concluded there was only a 50% chance that would be enough. The final cost was likely to be “many billions more than the reported estimate”, the document said. Europe’s biggest infrastructure scheme has already more than tripled in price since it was approved a decade ago. The FT (£)