The HS2 high-speed rail project has pressed staff to falsify figures, mislead parliament and cover up “petrifying” overspends, according to a senior manager turned whistleblower.
In documents seen by The Sunday Times, Doug Thornton, HS2’s former head of property, said the organisation put him under “tremendous pressure to accede to an enormous deceit” that the official budget for buying land and buildings was accurate.
It is in fact wrong by billions of pounds, he said, was based on “rudimentary map-based analysis by interns” and contains errors in the tens of millions even on single properties.
