A new BBC Radio 4 podcast reveals that the future of the Manchester and Leeds legs of HS2 remains “under consultation” according to the Department for Transport.
It also says that ministers describe the project as a “mess” needing urgent resolution.
Derailed: The Story of HS2, presented by Kate Lamble, explores the complex history, politics, and realities behind Britain’s most controversial rail project.
In an interview in the series, Lord Peter Hendy, Minister of State for Rail, says: “There’s no doubt about it… but what we have resolved to do is to sort it out.” He confirms that the government is still considering what to do with the land originally set aside for HS2 to Manchester and Leeds.
Lord Hendy explains: “The planning that went into HS2 was over a long number of years, and to… stop it without any thought of what you would do instead has caused us to have to think very clearly and do a load of work. So I can’t pre-empt that, and in any case, our first job is to fix the project we’ve got now.”
The podcast reports that building HS2 from Birmingham to Old Oak Common in London is currently estimated at £81 billion, with inflation likely taking the total to at least £100 billion for just 135 miles of railway.
Asked about these figures, Lord Hendy replies: “I haven’t seen numbers like that, except in the media. People are fond of quoting numbers in the media.”
HS2 Ltd tells the series: “This cycle of cost increases and delays must be broken and we have a comprehensive plan to reset the programme – ensuring the mistakes of the last five years aren’t repeated.”
The ten-part series also hears from Boris Johnson, who says he always believed HS2 was “the right thing to do” despite scepticism.
He argues: “It’s a disgrace that since the middle of the 19th century London has been developing and has got better and better and the North East, North West and the Midlands haven’t had the same effect. And HS2 was clearly going to be part of it.
“I could see the cost problems but great infrastructure projects depend on politicians having the will, political will to keep going because these are investments in the future.”
Former HS2 chairs Sir Douglas Oakervee, Brian Briscoe, and Allan Cook, as well as Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and HS2 insiders Andrew Bruce and Doug Thornton, also feature in the series.
The full boxset of Derailed: The Story of HS2 is available on BBC Sounds from today, Monday 14 July, with episodes airing daily on BBC Radio 4 at 1.45pm.
