HS2 bill could rise to £102bn with first trains delayed until 2039, government admits

Key points

• The HS2 high-speed railway will now cost up to £102.7bn and trains will not start running between London and Birmingham until as late as 2039, the government has admitted – £70bn more and 13 years later than originally promised.
• The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said the truncated railway would not be entirely completed until as late as 2043. The figure is the first official estimate of HS2’s budget in 2026 prices.
• Alexander said the total cost would range between £87.7bn and £102.7bn, with only a third of the rise resulting from inflation.
• The first trains between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street will now start running between 2036 and 2039, with the full railway running from London Euston to join the west coast mainline in Staffordshire scheduled to be completed between 2040 and 2043. Alexander said the forecasts were “built on solid foundations with credible estimates...