The construction of HS2’s physical structures should have been “largely completed” by now under the project’s initial timeline – but it is actually just over halfway there, the project’s chief executive has admitted.
HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild blamed major delays in the execution of the project on “inefficiency of work” as a result of the decision to start construction work before the finalised design or consents were in place.
Giving evidence in front of the Commons Transport Select Committee, HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild admitted: “The construction of the civil engineering should have been largely completed by now.
“The reality is we’re about 60 per cent complete.”
Asked about the causes for the delays, Mr Wild said: “It’s a very, very important lesson – the projects must not be mobilised and commenced if you haven’t got the design and consents, because the productivity of the teams, the hard working teams, is so leveraged if you’re waiting for the design.”
He said the failure to complete designs before construction began was a much bigger cause of delay than the high-speed goal of the new rail line.
“It’s probably much more important than the effective speed”, the chief executive said. “I do agree, the speed, the trains per hour, the tonnage, has had a huge effect on the spec.
“I think when all said and done, the cost exceedence though has mostly been inefficiency of work, because we started too soon. I think that will be revealed as the most dominant effect.”
He also said the coronavirus pandemic and the rise in inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had an impact.
Phase One of HS2 between London and Birmingham was initially planned to open by the end of 2026.
This was later pushed back to between 2029 and 2033, but transport secretary Heidi Alexander said last month there was “no route” to meeting that timeframe.
In 2013, HS2 was estimated to cost £37.5 billion – at 2009 prices – for the entire planned network, including the now-scrapped extensions from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
In June last year, HS2 Ltd assessed the cost for the line between London and Birmingham would be up to £66 billion.
Earlier this year, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warned that high-speed rail between London and Birmingham may never be delivered because the government and HS2 lack “the skills or capacities” to complete the project.
The powerful committee of MPs said the rail project should be studied as an example of “how not to run a major project”, with billions of pounds of taxpayer funds having already been wasted.
And, despite the northern leg of HS2 having been axed to cut costs, a move first revealed by The Independent, the PAC warned it has doubts about the government’s ability “to deliver even a curtailed scheme”.
In a damning report, the committee added that even if the slimmed down HS2 project is delivered, it will “bring very poor value for money”. One example the committee cited in the waste associated with HS2 was the building of a bat protection tunnel in Buckinghamshire costing more than £100m.
Shortly after joining HS2 Ltd as chief executive at the start of December 2024, Mr Wild said the project was “in a very serious situation that requires a fundamental reset”.
In October 2023, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak cancelled a plan to extend HS2 between the West Midlands and Manchester. The Independent revealed the PM’s plans weeks in advance, sparking fury among northern politicians and business chiefs.
And the planned leg to Leeds was axed in November 2021 after a review was carried out in 2020 because of escalating costs and delays.
