HS2, or High Speed 2, was conceived as the UK’s most ambitious rail infrastructure project in decades, aiming to significantly cut travel times between London, the Midlands and the North. However, the project has been repeatedly hit by delays, rising costs and cancellations with the network no longer set to extend beyond Birmingham.

What was the Plan?

Plans for HS2 were first announced in 2009 by the Labour government and were set to cost £32.7bn. The project aimed to tackle overcrowding and travel times on the West Coast Main Line and was supposed to be built in three phases:

–        Phase One: A new line from London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street.

–        Phase 2a: From Birmingham to Crewe.

–        Phase 2b: From Crewe to Manchester, and from Birmingham to Leeds.

Trains are expected to run at up to 225 miles per hour. The aim was to cut journey times –  halving journeys from London to Manchester, for example.

What’s happened so far?

2009

Labour unveils plans for a high-speed rail line linking London with the North to mirror HS1

January 2012

Transport secretary Justine Greening greenlights HS2 positioning it as a flagship project to drive regional growth in support of the Northern powerhouse agenda to rebalance the UK’s economy.

June 2013

The budget is raised to £50 billion after the route is altered to include costly tunnels in the Chilterns in response to protests about environmental, noise and aesthetic impact on the area.

March 2014

MPs decisively vote in favour of HS2 despite a Conservative rebellion. David Cameron, whose constituency of Witney was expected to pass through, abstained. 

June 2016

The National Audit Office warns that HS2 could be delayed by a year citing an unrealistic schedule. 

2017

First contracts totalling £6.6 billion awarded for HS2. Included was a £1.3billion contract for the embattled construction firm Carillion who would enter liquidation less than six months later. A later government-commissioned review would attribute contracting overruns as the chief reason for spiralling costs with underperformance and ill-defined goals cited as ancillary.

September 2019

HS2 Ltd chair Allan Cook warns that costs could hit £88 billion and completion may be delayed until 2040. The rise reflected revisions in the cost of property acquisition as well as more difficult-than-expected surveyed ground conditions. 

January 2020

A National Audit Office report puts the cost at £72 billion to £98 billion at 2019 prices. 

February 2020 

Douglous Oakervee warns costs “got carried away” but urges HS2 should go ahead, citing no viable alternative to improving the transport system. He blames poor oversight and outdated pricing and calls for tighter cost controls.

September 2020

Construction on Phase One formally begins. 

January 2021 

Activists construct tunnels at Euston station to protest the potential environmental damage, in particular to the ancient woodland set to be felled. The 31 day occupation caused an estimated £3.8million in delays.  

November 2021

Boris Johnson formally scraps the eastern section from Birmingham to Leeds. Instead, the government pledges to improve existing lines in the North of England, arguing that it would be quicker and more cost effective.

March 2023

Euston Station’s budget rises to £4.8 billion and construction is paused. Despite having spent £1.5 billion on land purchases around the station and scaled back the scope of the project,  work had yet to begin. The decision for HS2 Ltd to oversee the broader redevelopment of Euston Station, including significant commercial and transport interests, has been criticised for complicating the scope of the project  

October 2023

Rishi Sunak cancels the northern section of HS2. He says Euston can only be built with private funds. The decision sparks backlash from business leaders and northern mayors who warn it will damage regional economic development and confidence. 

October 2024

Labour says Euston station will be publicly financed and commissions a review to get the project under control. It will be revealed that £250 million had been spent on two rejected redesigns of the project.

December 2024

Ministers are briefed that total spending in HS2 could rise as high as £81.7 billion when adjusted for inflation. 

June 2025

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander announces 2033 launch date untenable, following a damning assessment by new HS2 CEO Mark Wild. Wild further recommends that contracts in 2020 be majorly overhauled and renegotiated or costs would continue to spiral.   

Where’s it all gone wrong?

HS2’s spiralling costs and constant delays reflect a mixture of both Nimbysim and weak oversight. In the 2010 Tory Lib-Dem coalition, Conservative backbenchers whose constituencies HS2 were among the project’s fiercest critics.

The result – significant redesigns with a total of 76 miles of tunnels or cutting to minimise disruption in transit communities. In addition, HS2 has faced poor project management, with unrealistic budget forecasts and reckless spending undermining confidence. On top of this, the scheme has been mired in a mountain of bureaucratic hurdles requiring over 8,000 separate consents from public bodies, further slowing construction and raising costs.