Delays announced to HS2 line between Birmingham and Crewe as costs soar to £71 billion

Spiralling costs of the HS2 high speed railway project has resulted in a two year delay to the proposed line between Birmingham and Crewe, say officials. 

The delay is the result of a bid to cut costs as the project spirals from £33 billion to an eye-watering £71 billion.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the government is “committed” to the HS2 line which will link London to the Midlands and the North of England but “inflation and government debt” – and rising costs of materials, fuel and labour – will lead to major delays to the project.

Mr Harper, said: “This Government sees transport investment as a down payment on the country’s future and is committing £20billion over each of the next two years to improve the UK’s transport network.

“But we can’t ignore the current realities. Putin’s war in Ukraine has hiked up inflation, sending supply chain costs rocketing.

“The responsible decisions I’ve outlined today will ensure we balance the budget at the same time as investing record sums in our transport network.”

The Birmingham to Crewe line – known as Phase 2a – is now expected to be delayed by two years.  The HS2 project has been beset with delays and spiralling costs.

When the project was first announced back in 2010 the expected cost was estimated to be around £33 billion but that figure has risen dramatically in the ensuing decade and the current estimate now stands at a shocking £71 billion.

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant in whose constituency of Lichfield in Staffordshire contains part of the HS2 line, is critical of the delay and expressed his exasperation: “Simply saying the project is delayed is not good enough. The area has been blighted by whole fields turned into construction sites.”

Under the current timetable for the project the first HS2 trains – between Old Oak Common (London) and Birmingham – are scheduled to operate in 2036.