UK government confirms lower speed and no automation for High Speed 2

UK: The government has announced further details of the ‘reset’ of the High Speed 2 project, with revised costs and timeframes for the completion of the London – Birmingham line as well as a lower maximum speed and the abandonment of plans for automation.

The government had asked Mark Wild, CEO of project promoter HS2 Ltd, to present options to reduce the complexity and cost of the project. His recommendations are now being acted on.

Presenting an update to parliament on May 19, Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander said taxpayers, passengers and communities had been ‘let down by years of mismanagement’ of the project, but she was ‘proud that this government has worked with HS2’s new senior team to get this project off life support and on the road to recovery’.

Revised HS2 cost estimate

The HS2 project is now expected to cost between £87.7bn and £102.7bn. This includes work to date and future work and the fleet of high speed trains, but excludes future inflation.

It is equivalent to £70.9bn to £82.2bn in 2019 prices, which Alexander said was ‘a stark increase’ on the previous cost range of £35bn to £45bn set under the previous government.

The government said two-thirds of the increase was due to works being missed from the scope of the original plan, underestimation and inefficient delivery. The remaining third was due to inflation, which had not been factored into previous estimates regularly enough.

Lower HS2 speed

Alexander confirmed HS2 trains would run at 320 km/h, a reduction from the previous plan for 360 km/h. She said this aligned with speeds across Europe and Japan.

HS2 Ltd’s initial assessment was that this could save one year and £2.5bn by ‘avoiding risks associated with certifying a railway at a speed and specification not operated anywhere in the world’.

The government has also accepted the recommendation to drop plans for Automatic Train Operation, which HS2 Ltd said ‘would be a global first-of-a-kind train control and signalling system for a high speed railway, introducing novelty that would require extensive proving’.

HS2 timescales

The first HS2 trains are now expected to start running between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street at some time between May 2036 and October 2039.

The full route from London Euston to Curzon Street and a connection to the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre is now expected to be completed between May 2040 and December 2043.

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