HS2: ministers to cut services and speeds to drive down costs, reports say

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Ministers are planning on cutting HS2 services and train speeds in an attempt to drive down the cost of the heavily delayed project, it has been reported.

The government is said to be considering cutting the number of trains from 18 to 10 an hour and reducing the trains’ maximum speeds.

The Department for Transport has refused to rule out reducing the frequency and speed of the high-speed rail network, saying that they “do not comment on speculation”.

HS2, which the government greenlit in 2012, was initially designed to run services at up to 400 km/h (248 mph). This was reduced to an average of 330 km/h (205 mph) and maximum of 360 km/h once contracts to build new trains were awarded.

The target cost of phase one between London and Birmingham was ?40.3bn at 2019 prices. A budget of ?55.7bn for the whole of HS2 was set in 2015.

The prospect of cuts has been criticised by HS2 advocates. A spokesperson for the High Speed Rail Group told the Daily Telegraph, who first reported the story: “Re-specifying or simply delaying the project will mean in effect loosening proper controls on the project and we desperately need the growth and productivity benefits HS2 will bring in order to fight the cost of living crisis.

“In future it will always be said that HM Treasury is partially to blame for its lateness and overspend.”

The government has committed to deliver HS2 from London to Manchester. The high-speed rail (Crewe-Manchester) bill is currently working its way through parliament.

Last month, the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, denied speculation that HS2 trains will not run from Old Oak Common, in west London, to Euston, in central London. He said he did not see “any conceivable circumstances” in which the planned Euston terminus would not go ahead.

It had been reported that the project could instead terminate permanently in the western suburbs of the capital to save money. However, when asked if ministers were committed to HS2 going all the way to Euston, Hunt told BBC News: “Yes we are. And I don’t see any conceivable circumstances in which that would not end up at Euston.”

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The chancellor said he had “prioritised HS2 in the autumn statement”.

A DfT spokesperson said: “Spades are already in the ground on the HS2 programme. It will better connect regions across the UK, provide a greener option of travel and is supporting tens of thousands of jobs.

“We remain committed to delivering the project from Euston to Manchester and continue to work in line with the integrated rail plan.”