Further hurdle for HS2 as report states complexity was underestimated
HS2 is over budget and behind schedule due to the Department for Transport (DfT), HS2 Limited and wider government underestimating its complexity according to a new report.
The National Audit Office (NAO) states that challenges to completing the programme and delivering value for taxpayers and end users remain.
This report follows the leak earlier this week of the independent Oakervee review. The report by the former HS2 Chairman suggested that the total cost for infrastructure could reach £106bn.
The NAO report also highlights cost increases and attributes them to the project being at an early stage and HS2 ltd’s failure to estimate a contingency that was appropriate.
With new forecasts showing the network operating fully between 2036 and 2040, three to seven years later than planned and costs spiralling the project has been plagued with doubt.
Phas 2b of the project from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester, the report says will cost 63% more than the current available funding and total £41bn.
The report also identifies that the majority of benefits the infrastructure are in Phase 2b of the project. It calls on the DfT, HS2 and government to “to carefully balance decisions on the scope and costs of Phase Two as changes will impact on
the benefits.”
Cllr Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council and West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Lead, commented on the report:
“The NAO is right to point out that the majority of the benefits of HS2 will be delivered by phase two of the scheme, the Y-shape connecting Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester, which is why any move to downgrade or cancel this section would be little more than gesture politics.
“While it is right to scrutinise major infrastructure investments, the failure to properly forecast costs and time is seen across numerous projects in the UK, not least Crossrail, and yet it is a scheme which will principally benefit the North which is now under threat.
“Failure to deliver HS2 in full, would do nothing to transform the way this country approaches major infrastructure investments but would rob the North of England of the additional rail capacity it desperately needs, the thousands of jobs this project will support and the economic growth it will generate.”
Garerth Davies, head of the NAO said: “To ensure public trust, the Department and HS2 Ltd must be transparent and provide realistic assessments of costs and completion dates as the programme develops, recognising the many risks to the successful delivery of the railway that remain.”
