HS2 explained: What is it and why are parts being delayed?

Published

2 years ago

September 28, 2023

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HS2 is the UK’s biggest infrastructure project, supposed to transform public transport between London, the Midlands and the North.

But it is becoming synonymous with political football, disappointment, delays and spiralling costs.

It’s been backed by more than one government and political party over the years but Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declined to throw his support behind the full project, resulting in fears the Manchester part of the line could be scrapped.

It’s the latest setback after the March announcement that parts of the line will be delayed, prompting questions of whether the UK is capable of delivering large infrastructure projects.

Interventions from five regional Labour mayors and numerous northern businesses have done their best to retain the current plans.

What is HS2?

HS2 is 330 miles of planned high-speed rail network, initially intended to link London and the West Midlands, stretching to Birmingham, with a further phase extending to Crewe, Manchester and Leeds in the North. Cost concerns in 2021 led to the shelving of the Leeds stretch.

It was first mooted by the Labour government in 2009.

The project has been beset by delays and rising costs, with some estimates now putting the price tag at more than £180bn, a figure that’s continuously risen from the 2019 estimate. In 2019 costs were put at around £100bn.

How much was it supposed to cost?

The original bill – at 2009 prices – was supposed to be £37.5bn.

At the time of the 2010 election, when David Cameron said his government would publish plans for a high speed rail, £20bn was committed for rail infrastructure.

By January 2012, when the broad route of the proposed scheme was in place, this had risen to £32.6bn.

In June 2013, the coalition government increased the overall cost to £42.6bn and in November 2015, when the figures were updated, in line with inflation, to £55.7bn.

The Department for Transport’s latest estimate in 2021 had spiralled even higher, to between £72bn and £98bn.

But Lord Berkeley, former deputy chairman of the government’s independent review into the project, said it could climb to £107bn.

It could be the 2040s before passenger services are operating on the full network.

New stations and 18 trains an hour

HS2’s inception follows the development of HS1, the high-speed line between London and Kent connecting the UK to routes on the European continent.

The aim is to run 18 trains an hour in each direction to and from London – at speeds of up to 224mph – compared to between two and six an hour on Europe’s high-speed railways.

It involves the construction of more than 300 bridges and 70 viaducts for the London-West Midlands phase alone.

There will also, under current plans, be new stations – including Birmingham Curzon Street and extensions for London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly.

The project is designed to meet the long-term growth in demand for rail services, improve the reliability of the network, boost connectivity by making journeys faster and easier, and help economic growth across the UK.

What is the route?

Stations on the first phase of the line will be London Euston, Old Oak Common in west London, Birmingham interchange and Birmingham Curzon Street. There are, however, concerns the London Euston station terminus will be axed as it’s been put on pause due to spiralling costs.

The line will instead end in Old Oak Common, requiring passengers to get the Elizabeth Line to central London.

This means it could be more than a decade before high-speed services stop at Euston, with passengers expected instead to travel for half an hour on the Elizabeth Line.

The second phase will see trains head northwest to Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly, or use existing lines via Wigan, Crewe and Stafford.

The route had also been planned to go northeast from Birmingham towards the East Midlands Hub at Toton.

From there, before the eastern extension was cancelled, the trains were due to continue on the HS2 line to Leeds, with others diverging onto existing lines via Chesterfield and York.

Delays to the Crewe-northwest section were also placed for two years.

Where did it all begin?

In 2009, under Labour transport secretary Geoff Hoon, the government set up a company, HS2 Ltd, to look at proposals for a new high-speed line.

The following year, the Department for Transport (DfT) set out plans for a Y-shaped network connecting London and the cities in the North.

Later, under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, it was confirmed that the line would be built in two phases.

Phase 1 would run from London to the West Midlands, beginning in 2026. That’s been pushed back to between 2029 and 2033. Euston Station is not due to open until 2035.

Phase 2, extending from the West Midlands to cities in the North, would start in 2032-33. But that’s been moved to any time from 2034 and 2041.

Why is HS2 so behind schedule?

By July 2019, the government accepted that the timetable was no longer feasible and has continued to change opening times.

Reasons for the delay included a year spent revising cost and schedule estimates for phase 1 and more time being needed for construction at various sites.

In August 2019, the government announced an independent review of the programme to advise on whether to proceed.

And in March of this year the government announced more construction would be delayed by two years to save money.

The COVID-19 pandemic probably didn’t help with progress, either.

In a written ministerial statement earlier this year, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the government is “prioritising HS2’s initial services” between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street.

Why have the costs risen so much?

In one word: inflation.

Mr Harper already said earlier this year, “we have seen significant inflationary pressure and increased project costs, and so we will rephase construction by two years, with an aim to deliver high-speed services to Crewe and the North West as soon as possible after accounting for the delay in construction”.

A report in January 2020 by the National Audit Office (NAO) – the spending watchdog – said HS2 Ltd had not accounted for the level of uncertainty and risk in the plans.

It used a method for calculating how much extra might be needed “that was not appropriate for a programme at such an early stage of development”.

Among the factors causing higher costs were commitments to increase the length of tunnelling and to erect noise barriers.

The NAO said the government and HS2 Ltd had “not adequately managed risks to taxpayer money”.

More money was needed for building bridges, tunnels and stations than first thought.

Complex issues involving the discovery of asbestos and archaeological remains, and the need to divert more gas and power lines than expected, have caused problems too.

More money was also needed to buy properties to make way for the rail line.

Even after these have been accounted for, there is uncertainty around the cost of extending London’s Euston station to accommodate the high-speed trains.

Politics

Sir Keir Starmer ‘absolutely’ wants Angela Rayner back in cabinet

Published

11 hours ago

November 23, 2025

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Sir Keir Starmer 'absolutely' wants Angela Rayner back in cabinet

Sir Keir Starmer has said he “absolutely” wants Angela Rayner back in his cabinet after she resigned for failing to pay the correct amount of stamp duty.

Speaking from the G20 Summit in South Africa, the prime minister told broadcasters his former deputy is “the best example ever” of social mobility and he is still in touch with her.

Asked if she could make a comeback this side of a general election, Sir Keir said: “I’ve always said I want Angela back. Even back in September at the time I said she is going to be a big voice in the Labour movement.

“Do I want Angela back at some stage? Yes absolutely.

“I think she is the best example ever in the United Kingdom of social mobility – going from a pretty challenging childhood to being deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom. She is the story of social mobility above all other stories.”

Asked if he missed having her around, Sir Keir said: “I’m friends with Angie and I like Angie a lot and we talk a lot. We still do.

“It’s always good to have Angela.”

Ms Rayner’s meteoric rise to the top of Labour came after she left school aged 16, pregnant and with no qualifications.

She was elected deputy Labour leader by the membership in 2020, and was made deputy prime minister then housing secretary by Sir Keir.

She resigned from all of those positions in September, after it emerged she had not paid the higher rate of stamp duty on a second home she bought in Hove, East Sussex, saving her about £40k.

It followed a tearful interview with Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby about the “complex living arrangement” regarding her first home, which was sold to a trust following her divorce to provide stability for her teenage son, who has lifelong disabilities and is the sole beneficiary of the trust.

An investigation by the prime minister ethic’s watchdog found she breached the ministerial code by failing to get correct tax advice, but that she acted “with integrity”.

Ms Rayner is still a backbench MP and recently did not rule out a return to the front bench herself – telling the Daily Mirror during a visit to a care centre in her constituency that she had “not gone away”.

Other cabinet ministers have also supported her return.

During the Labour Party Conference a few weeks after she resigned, Health Secretary Wes Streeting paid tribute to her work on the Employment Rights Bill and said Labour “wants her back and needs her back”.

Politics

Rachel Reeves vows to ‘grip the cost of living’ – despite expectation of tax rises in budget

Published

13 hours ago

November 23, 2025

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Rachel Reeves vows to 'grip the cost of living' - despite expectation of tax rises in budget

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has promised to “grip the cost of living” in the budget next week.

Writing in The Mirror newspaper, she acknowledged that high prices “hit ordinary families most” and that the economy “feels stuck” for too many.

But at the same time, she is expected to raise taxes when she sets out economic policies on 26 November as she seeks to bridge a multibillion-pound gap in her spending plans.

“Delivering on our promise to make people better off is not possible if we don’t get a grip on inflation,” Ms Reeves wrote in The Sunday Times.

“It is a fundamental precursor to economic growth. It is essential to make families better off and for businesses to thrive.

“There is an urgent need to ease the pressure on households now. It will require direct action by this government to get inflation under control.”

She said reforms would change the welfare system from “trapping millions of people on benefits” to one “designed to help people succeed”.

It comes as the government announced that rail fares will be frozen for the first time in 30 years.

The fare freeze applies to England and services run by English train operators.

And it will save commuters on more expensive routes more than £300 a year.

Among the rumoured measures in the budget is an extension of the freeze on income tax thresholds, which would see more people dragged into paying tax for the first time or shifted into a higher rate as their wages go up.

However, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Ms Reeves should “have the balls” to admit that such a move would breach Labour’s manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people.

Politics

Ex-Reform leader in Wales who took pro-Russia bribes ‘can’t besmirch everyone else’, says party’s head of policy Zia Yusuf

Published

13 hours ago

November 23, 2025

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Ex-Reform leader in Wales who took pro-Russia bribes 'can't besmirch everyone else', says party's head of policy Zia Yusuf

Nathan Gill’s actions were “treasonous” but people should not “besmirch everyone else at Reform”, the party’s head of policy Zia Yusuf has said.

Gill, the former leader of Reform UK in Wales, was jailed for 10 and a half years last week after he admitted accepting tens of thousands of pounds in cash to make pro-Russian statements to the media and European Parliament.

Asked by Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips if the case showed the party was soft on President Vladimir Putin, Mr Yusuf said that would be an “incredibly unreasonable position to take”.

He said: “Nathan Gill, what he did was treasonous, it was horrific, it was awful. He’s been dealt with by the authorities and he deserves the sentence that he got.”

He added: “As far as we’re concerned he is ancient history. I’ve never met him, I had never heard about him until I saw he was in the newspapers. It is unreasonable to besmirch Reform and the millions of people around the country who support Nigel and support our party.”

Gill, 52, was announced as the leader of Reform UK in Wales in March 2021, but quit the party a few months later after he failed to be elected to the Senedd.

He previously led the Welsh wing of UKIP (UK Independence Party) between 2014 and 2016, then ran by Nigel Farage, and was a member of the Senedd between 2016 and 2017, as well as an MEP between 2014 and 2020.

Gill left UKIP in 2019 to join Mr Farage’s new Brexit Party – later rebranded as Reform UK.

Following an investigation by counter-terrorism police, officers said they believe Gill likely took a minimum of £40,000 in cash.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer demanded an investigation into links between Reform UK and Russia following the case.

Mr Farage’s position on Russia has come under scrutiny in the past. He faced a backlash during the general election campaign when he spoke about the incursion of NATO and how “we provoked this war” in Ukraine.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips, Mr Yusuf insisted his boss has never supported or been sympathetic to Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine, saying it is “not Nigel’s position that ‘we provoked the war’.”

He said: “When he [Farage] was pressed as to how he would respond if he was prime minister and Russian jets encroached into NATO airspace, his view was that those planes should be shot down. We are crystal clear about our position.

“I would also say this: the notion that Vladimir Putin, the murderous dictator, is making decisions based on what Nigel Farage is saying here in England, I think is for the birds.

“We are now in a situation where Ukraine’s sovereignty has been violated, and Vladimir Putin needs to be brought to heel.”

But Labour accused Reform of “pandering to Moscow” following the interview.

Anna Turley, chair of the Labour Party, said Mr Farage has previously called Mr Putin “the leader he most admired and has repeatedly parroted Kremlin talking points”.

She added: “Reform must urgently allow an independent investigation to root out pro-Russia links, to assure the public that Putin holds no sway over their party or its representatives.”

Police have confirmed Mr Farage has not been part of the investigation into Gill.

Mr Farage said on Friday: “An investigation into Russian and Chinese influence over British politics would be welcome.”

The Reform UK MP for Clacton had previously described his former colleague as a “bad apple” and said he was “shocked” after Gill pleaded guilty to bribery.

He said: “Any political party can find in their midst all sorts of terrible people.

“You can never, ever guarantee 100% that everyone you meet in your life, you shake hands with in the pub, is a good person.”