Britain’s new high-speed railway line is being reviewed by the country’s most senior civil servant as concern grows that it cannot be built within its £56 billion budget.
Sir Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, is reported to be investigating HS2 to prevent the cost of the construction project spiralling out of control.
It is feared that his intervention could lead to reductions in the lengths of tunnels through areas such as the Chilterns, or cuts to the compensation paid to home and business owners along the line. Significant changes have already been made to the plans to keep costs down, including the abolition of a proposed link to Heathrow and a connection to the HS1 line at London St Pancras.
Work on the first phase of the line, between London Euston and Birmingham, is expected to start next year. A second stretch will be built to carry 250mph trains on to Manchester and Leeds. The full Y-shaped network is expected to be completed by 2033.
It was announced last year that the cost of the project was £55.7 billion — up from an earlier estimate of £50.1 billion — after adjustment for inflation.
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The Guardian reported yesterday that Sir Jeremy has been reviewing the project since March as part of work led by the government’s new infrastructure and projects authority.
Joe Rukin, campaign manager at Stop HS2, said: “We’ve already seen links to Heathrow and HS1 lopped off in a futile attempt to keep the cost of HS2 down, but it keeps spiralling out of control.
“The idea that government is looking to see what they can slice off to stop cost escalation is very disturbing to communities and environments.”
A spokesman for HS2 said: “There are no delays to the programme and we remain on target to progress a further round of major contract invitations this summer.”
A spokeswoman for the government said: “As is normal for large projects, the infrastructure and projects authority is conducting assurance of the HS2 programme as it proceeds into its delivery phase. It is standard practice for this to include a small cross-government team.”