Cost of HS2 could pass £80bn as estimate jumps 15% in a year
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Projected bill includes price of building HS2 station at Euston, with a budget of about £5bn. The bill for building the HS2 high-speed railway could pass £80bn at current prices, as estimated costs jumped by 15% since the last parliamentary report just over a year ago.
An update expected imminently from ministers will put the budget at building the line from London to Birmingham at between £54bn and £66bn, quoting figures supplied to the Department for Transportby HS2 Ltd. The figures are in 2019 prices, which adjusted for inflation would now be between £67bn and £81.7bn. The cost estimates include the price of building an HS2 station at Euston, where the budget alone is expected to be about £5bn.
HS2 Ltd’s last formal estimate for what was initially known as Phase 1 was in the range of £49bn to £57bn last year. The £66bn figure is understood to have been given to the DfT in the summer, based on cost increases reported by suppliers to HS2, although it is seen as a rough calculation to be treated with caution before a full review being carried out by the new chief executive, Mark Wild.
The DfT’s own estimates of the cost were expected to be lower. Last year, ministers said they disputed the HS2 Ltd estimate by about £3bn-£4bn. Wild, who officially started in early December and helped Transport for London deliver Crossrail to its own much-revised budget and timescale, is expected to report to the government next year on HS2’s cost and schedule.
