DfT’s Bernadette Kelly potentially in breach of the civil service code by withholding important information about the true scale of HS2’s dire financial situation
How much will HS2 cost?
Here is a timeline of estimates from official and not-so-official sources:
Damning report of HS2 by Tony Berkeley, former Deputy Chair of the Oakervee Review into HS2
At least 60,000 bodies will have to be exhumed to make way for the first phase of the HS2 rail network, the government has admitted.
£55bn budget dwarves that of Hinkley C and Heathrow combined
HS2 Ltd “hasn’t got a clue” what its costs are, says Lord Berkeley
George Osborne’s “Northern Powerhouse” dealt another blow
Lord Berkeley says: “It is a mess”
Says John Cridland, the man leading the “Northern Powerhouse” project
Meanwhile, government still refuses to release the results of its own polls
HS2 has been badly designed and to the wrong criteria.
The redevelopment of Euston Station for HS2 will slash the number of platforms by a third, devastating commuter services. This little nugget wasn’t mentioned at the launch of the rebuilding plans, and badly undermines HS2’s main justification, that it will free capacity on the existing West Coast Main Line for new commuter and inter-city trains. […]
There are now three government reports which are highly critical of HS2. How many more are needed before HS2 is scrapped?
Government figures to support the case for High Speed 2 are essentially make-believe
Butterflies, bats, birds and badgers will all take a hit
That’s 6 times more than his predecessor
American entrepreneur, engineer and inventor, Elon Musk laughs when he hears about the plans for HS2. Gavin Esler interviews Musk on BBC2’s Newsnight, 24th Ocober 2013.
The HS2 project has since been downgraded to an Amber/Red rating, meaning successful delivery of the project is in doubt, with major risks or issues apparent in a number of key areas.
According to a study of 258 rail, bridge and road “megaprojects”
According to a secret report by the Major Projects Authority
All £42 billion £50 billion £80 billion of it
Whether it benefits them or not, every constituency will be financially worse off
That’s according to a consultation carried out in November 2011 for the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd
£35bn taxpayer-financed HS2 project linking London to the Midlands and the North is, in fact, shockingly outdated
The results will be updated here hourly from Twitter