HS2 chief quits
THE chief executive of HS2 Ltd has announced he is leaving the company to join Rolls Royce, and with no replacement lined up ministers have been forced to insist that the £56bn will not be derailed.
Simon Kirby has been in post at the company behind the £56bn high speed rail project for just over two and a half years.
He is reportedly the UK’s highest-paid civil servant, raking in £750,000 annually after joining in May 2014 from Network Rail.
He will join Rolls Royce as chief operating officer.
This comes as a freedom of information request from the Yorkshire Against HS2 group found that HS2 Ltd has yet to assess how much demolition work will be required on the Sheffield route, and consequently how much noise pollution would be created.
In July it was announced that the route would be placed through the city’s main station rather than Meadowhall shopping centre. This will mean that a £30m development of 212 homes would have to be demolished.
The first phase of the scheme is expected to receive Parliamentary approval by the end of the year, with work to begin by mid-2017.
Ministers yesterday scrambled to insist that despite Mr Kirby’s departure, HS2 is on track and that the government is “100% committed” to the new rail route.
Chairman of HS2, David Higgins, said of Mr Kirby’s departure: “Whilst naturally we will miss his experience and leadership, I also recognise that he is joining a truly great, global company in an industry in which he has previously worked.”
Simon Kirby said: “HS2 is not just a highly ambitious project, but also one which will leave a lasting legacy for Britain. It has been, therefore, a huge honour to have been its chief executive and to have been involved in creating a leadership team made up of the best talents from this country and elsewhere. I have absolute confidence in their ability to deliver the project and, in doing so, to help transform the way we do things in this country.”
It was also announced that Mel Ewel, formerly chief executive of Amey, has been appointed to the board as a non-executive director.
