HS2 is “unachievable”, according to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority watchdog.
Officials at the IPA handed a red rating to the first two phases of the high-speed railway, which is designed to connect London with the Midlands and the north of England.
Phase 1, which covers the route to Birmingham, and the high-speed rout to Crewe detailed in phase 2a, where construction is yet to start, were denounced as “unachievable”.