The UK’s controversial High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project has been further delayed with soaring costs of up to £102.7 billion, according to a government update.
The scheme, which will create a new high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham, is now scheduled to cost between £87.7 billion and £102.7 billion. The project was originally costed at around £56 billion when it was launched in 2015 but this estimate has been rising in the past few years.
The first train services had previously been expected to run from Old Oak Common in west London to Birmingham Curzon Street in 2033, but this schedule has now been delayed to between 2036 and 2039.
The current Labour government added that the connection to Euston station in central London would now not be operational until between 2040 and 2043.
The HS2 project was initiated by the previous Conservative government but original plans to extend the line northwards from Birmingham to Manchester and from Birmingham to the East Midlands and Leeds were scrapped earlier this decade as the cost of the project escalated.
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.”
The government is also to reduce the speed of trains that will use HS2 when it eventually opens, with services set to be limited to 200 miles per hour, instead of the previous plan for speeds of up to 225 mph.
Alexander said that this reduction in speed could save £2.5 billion and “at least a year in delivery time”.
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson decided to press ahead with HS2 in 2020 despite growing concerns over rising costs. Environmental campaigners have protested against the scheme since the HS2 project was launched in 2015.
The current government said it was committed to delivering HS2 “in full” between London and Birmingham, with a new assessment showing that it would cost “as much to cancel the project as it would to complete it”.