MPs give green light to HS2 even after costs rise by £10bn

MPs have backed plans for the development of the HS2 high speed rail programme – even after hearing that the expected cost of the project has risen by almost £10bn.

The network, which will now cost the taxpayer a likely £42.6bn, is set to link Birmingham with the capital and then a second phase will extend northwards from north of the second city to Manchester and Leeds.

The special high speed trains which will use the line will also cost an extra £7.5bn, bringing the total cost of the project to more than £50bn.

The need for extra tunnelling, including one under the M6 through Birmingham, together with additional contingency funds is thought to have driven up the costs.

The news of the changes was announced by Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin last night after the Chancellor cleared the way for the announcement during his Spending Review speech.

There was an attempt by a group of disgruntled MPs to get the project rejected but the vast majority of MPs failed to be persuaded by their argument that the project was unnecessary and would cause substantial damage to the environment. The eventual vote went 325 to 37 in favour of the new railway progressing.

The fresh details were revealed during a second reading of a Parliamentary Bill aimed at securing for the Government greater funding powers to enable the project to move into the detailed planning stage towards the end of the year.

The additional costs will have put a huge dent in the Government’s plans for continued austerity and more than wiped out the £11.5bn of savings announced by Mr Osborne in his speech earlier.