The UK government is in talks with Hitachi and Alstom over reshaping the HS2 £2 billion train contract, after the decision to cancel the line beyond Birmingham left the project with more trains than it can use and designs that may no longer fit the revised route. The discussions come as ministers prepare to reveal new delays and cost overruns for the troubled high-speed rail project.
The UK government wants to revise its £2 billion contract for HS2 rolling stock with with train manufacturers Hitachi and Alstom, after major changes to the high-speed rail project left the originally ordered fleet misaligned with the network now being built.
The deal, awarded in December 2021 to a joint venture between Japan’s Hitachi Rail and France’s Alstom, covers the production of 54 high-speed trains along with a 12-year maintenance and service agreement. At the time, the order was framed as supporting around 2,500 jobs across the UK, with manufacturing spread across facilities in Derby, Crewe and Newton Aycliffe in County Durham.
However, the order was placed when HS2 was still planned to run from London to Manchester. That assumption changed in October 2023, when the UK government cancelled the northern leg of the project beyond Birmingham. As a result, officials are now reassessing both the number of trains required and their configuration.
Half of the original units
According to reports in The Sunday Times, the Department for Transport has begun talks with the two manufacturers about reducing the fleet size and altering train length to better match the revised network. While the final number of trains has not been determined, sources suggest the eventual order will remain well above half of the original 54 units.
A key technical challenge relates to the length of the trains. HS2 rolling stock was originally designed around a maximum 400-metre formation, consisting of two 200-metre units coupled together. These long trains were intended to operate on a fully dedicated high-speed network stretching north of Birmingham.
With that section cancelled, HS2 services are now expected to transition onto the existing West Coast Main Line to reach destinations in the North West, including Manchester. But Manchester Piccadilly station does not have platforms long enough to accommodate 400-metre trains.
Running only a single 200-metre unit presents its own issue, however. That would make the new HS2 trains shorter than the Pendolino fleet currently used on the corridor by Avanti West Coast. Those tilting intercity trains, which entered service nearly 25 years ago, measure between 217 and 265 metres depending on configuration.
As a result, several options are understood to be under discussion, including shortening the trains, lengthening them, or producing different sets at multiple lengths to suit different operational contexts. Any renegotiation of the contract could also carry financial implications. Changing the terms of the agreement may trigger penalty clauses or compensation payments to the manufacturers, with HS2 fully funded by UK taxpayers.
HS2 ‘reset’
The discussions come as the government prepares a broader “reset” of the remaining HS2 project between London and Birmingham. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is expected to set out updated plans in the coming weeks, while HS2 chief executive Mark Wild is preparing what has been described as a “new baseline” for the programme, including revised cost forecasts and a more realistic timetable.
Passenger services on the Birmingham to Old Oak Common section are currently scheduled to begin between 2029 and 2033, although Wild has already warned that the earlier date is “unlikely”. The extension from Old Oak Common into central London at Euston is not expected to be completed until the 2040s.
The overall cost of phase one of HS2, covering the London–Birmingham section, is currently estimated at between £54 billion and £67 billion in 2019 prices. Once inflation is taken into account, some analysts believe the final cost could approach £100 billion.
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