The Transport Secretary has declared an end to an ‘era of neglect’ on High Speed Two (HS2) as she set out plans to reset the project, delivering the railway as quickly as possible and at the lowest reasonable cost.
Following years of mismanagement, the Transport Secretary has convened the team that delivered the Elizabeth Line and set out new costs and timeframes for the project, including efforts to cut construction costs and get passengers on trains sooner.
The government announced today the project is now expected to cost between £87.7 and £102.7 billion, with two thirds of the increase due to works being missed from the scope of the original project plan, underestimation by previous governments, inefficient delivery – and the remaining third due to inflation.
The government has also confirmed HS2 will run at 320 km/h (200 mph), aligning with speeds across Europe and Japanese Bullet trains. In previous plans, HS2 trains were set to run at 360 km/h (225 mph) but with no existing track to test trains at that speed in Great Britain, adding to spiralling costs and build time.
The change in speed could deliver savings of up to £2.5 billion and at least a year in delivery time, so communities can start to benefit sooner.
Image: Construction work at Old Oak Common - HS2 Ltd
The first trains are now expected to start between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street between 2036 and 2039. An estimate of the full scheme from London Euston to Curzon Street and a connection to the West Coast Main Line, is between 2040 and 2043.
HS2 Ltd Mark Wild’s ongoing reset has borne fruit – with 6 major construction milestones reached earlier than planned in the last year – as well as eliminating 300 bureaucratic roles, and scrutinising contracts to ensure taxpayers get value for money.
The government is committed to delivering HS2 in full between Birmingham and London, with a new assessment revealing it could cost as much to cancel the project as it would to complete it, while delivering none of the benefits.
Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said: “Taxpayers, passengers and communities along the route have been let down by years of mismanagement on HS2.
“I share their anger about the waste and mess, but I am proud that this government has worked with HS2’s new senior team to get this project off life support and on the road to recovery.
“We will get the job done but we will also take every opportunity to save time and money in the process, getting a grip on delivery, controlling costs, and stripping out the complexity that’s plagued the project in the past.
“We can and must build big infrastructure projects in Britain. But we also need competent people in charge of them. This is the same team that delivered the Elizabeth Line. We have done it before, we will do it again.”
Delivering HS2 will mean more trains on the West Coast Main Line corridor, and more reliable and faster journeys, saving passengers around 30 minutes between London and Birmingham compared with current services, and doubling peak long-distance, fast rail capacity between the capital and West Midlands.
The new ranges come as the government publishes in full a comprehensive report by Sir Stephen Lovegrove into the Civil Service’s role in HS2’s execution to date. The government will respond to Sir Stephen’s recommendations after thorough consideration of the findings.
HS2 will deliver houses, jobs and growth. Recent forecasts show it is already contributing £20 billion to the economy over the next decade around its station sites and depot in the West Midlands and west London, plus 63,000 new homes and over 49,000 new jobs in these areas.
Commercial development at Euston is estimated to add £41 billion to the economy over the next 3 decades and support 34,000 new jobs, with high-tech tunnelling machines now working under Londoners’ feet to make HS2 to Euston a reality. Over 6,100 contracts have been awarded to UK businesses, with more than half of these to small and medium-size enterprises.
CEO Mark Wild and Chair Mike Brown have started to turn HS2 Ltd around and have delivered 6 major construction milestones ahead of schedule over the last 12 months, including:
- the sliding of a road bridge for the A46 over the HS2 line of route in April 2025
- the installation of beams and overbridges near Calvert in Buckinghamshire in August 2025
- the completion of boring the 3.5-mile Bromford tunnel in Birmingham in October 2025
Mark Wild, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, said: “I recognise this will be unwelcome news for local communities and taxpayers, and I share in their disappointment that it will take longer and cost more to bring HS2 into service.
“Resetting HS2 was the only way to regain control of the project. We have turned a corner in the last 12 months with significantly improved levels of productivity, helping us to deliver major milestones ahead of schedule. We’re also progressing with plans to bring HS2 into line with other high-speed railways in Europe – further reducing the project’s complexity without compromising on benefits.
“Better journeys, more capacity on the network, and economic growth are all vital to the country’s future prosperity, and that’s exactly what we will deliver. Driven by the hard work of 31,000 people on the ground, HS2 is finally getting back on track.”
The HS2 reset is fully funded within the Department for Transport’s current Spending Review settlement, with no additional borrowing. Funding beyond 2029-30 will be set at future Spending Reviews and will be underpinned by the government’s non-negotiable fiscal rules.
