The Utter Mismanagement of HS2 Is Now Damaging the UK’s Global Reputation, Say MPs

MPs have slammed the Department for Transport and HS2 for failing to have the necessary skills or capabilities to manage the HS2 rail project, which is now expected to cost £80 billion to complete the rump of the line from London to Birmingham – more than double the original cost of £37.5 billion for a full high speed line running from London to Manchester and Leeds.

MPs on the Commons Public Accounts Committee say the mismanagement of the project has reached such a level that the UK’s global reputation for managing prestige projects has been badly tarnished.

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Conservative Chair of the Committee, said: “It is time to deal with HS2 as what it is – a cautionary tale that should be studied by future Governments in how not to run a major project.

MPs Slam Parliament’s Slow Rebuilding Programme Progress – As Executives Receive Hundreds of Thousands in Bonuses

The Public Accounts Committee delivers a stinging rebuke to the Delivery Authority, tasked with the rebuilding scheme

David Hencke

“We are sceptical of Government’s ability to successfully deliver even a curtailed scheme, one which we already know will on its face bring very poor value for money. The question has instead become: what possible benefit can the Government now salvage for the taxpayer, from a mess that presents real risks to the UK’s overall reputation?

“It is ultimately the Department of Transport that has failed to manage this enormous project and manage HS2 properly. This is likely to have wasted billions of pounds of taxpayers money in delays and overspends.”

“The Department as well as resetting the project must now reset itself to manage this project to a workable conclusion in line with the eventually agreed budget and timescale. 

“To do this they will need to employ people with the correct range of skill sets to critically supervise and oversee this huge project. This is the only way to salvage its severely tarnished reputation. We expect to see a real improvement when we next examine this matter.”

The report states that in the years since it was first approved by Gordon Brown’s Government, developers have never agreed the costs, when it will be completed, what the benefits will be or what was the scope of the project.

When Department officials and HS2 management appeared before MPs neither side could agree on cost estimates – giving different figures.

One of the biggest mismanagement issues was the construction of a one kilometre bat tunnel costing £100m – double the ordinary cost – and up to 10 metres high with a mesh separating bats from trains. The total cost of the entire project, which included restoring the East-West line from Oxford to Cambridge which passed near HS2, has now come to £168m.

The report also reveals that nothing has happened since the present Government announced the line would finish at Euston. Instead, two rival plans have been put up by the Mayor of London and the London Borough of Camden to redevelop the station and the underground and bus station as a transport hub and the Government will need to create a new delivery authority to manage it. Work on the tunnels to connect Euston has also been delayed.

People living on the now abandoned high speed route north of Birmingham to Manchester are also facing delays in being able to buy back properties compulsory purchased for the line as the government has paused any sale.

 The reason is that Andy Burnham, the mayor of Manchester, and Robert Parker, the West Midlands mayor want to use the abandoned route to build a new rail link to Crewe to initially relieve the West Coast line. Their proposals have led to a dispute with Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent councils who have not been consulted about this and wrote to MPs on the committee to protest. They are worried they will lose road safety measures promised if HS2 had been extended. The Government is currently examining the proposals that would be built by the private sector.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The continuously climbing costs of HS2 are completely unacceptable. That is why the Government acted swiftly to get the project back under control by bringing new leadership to HS2 Ltd, directing the company to begin work on resetting culture, schedule and costs, and reinstating robust ministerial oversight.

“HS2 Ltd is working with its supply chain to reset the programme and deliver the railway safely and at the lowest reasonable cost.”