HS2: ‘Very unlikely’ to meet budget for first phase October 16, 2022 The total cost of HS2’s London-Birmingham section is set to exceed the government’s budget by several billions, according to a leaked report. A research presented to the HS2 board by Sir Jon Thompson, the project’s deputy chair, said it was “very unlikely” the £40.3bn target would be met. The document concluded that the government’s contingency [...]
Half of Brits in favour of scrapping HS2 July 9, 2022 Half of Britons are in favour of scrapping the HS2 project as costs continue to mount. Around 52 per cent of those who voted Conservatives in the 2019 election are against the project, compared with 17 per cent who think the high-speed rail from London to the Midlands should go ahead, the Telegraph first reported. [...]
Work starts on unique HS2 tunnel that will blend railway into local landscape in first of its kind in UK June 11, 2022 HS2 said today work has begun on the construction of an innovative green tunnel designed to blend the railway into the landscape. The one-and-a-half-mile-long structure in Chipping Warden, Northamptonshire, is being built on the surface of the ground to speed up the process. More than 5,000 concrete segments made in a factory in Derbyshire will [...]
Rail stakeholders drag government for axing £3bn HS2-West Coast link June 7, 2022 Rail stakeholders have dragged the government for its decision to axe a £3bn link between HS2 and the West Coast Main Line. According to a joint statement published today by the Railway Industry Association (RIA), High Speed Rail Group and Rail Freight Group, scrapping the link will create a bottleneck north of Crewe. The link [...]
Grant Shapps gave private ‘assurance’ to top Tory about scrapping of £3bn HS2 branch from bill April 7, 2022 A proposed £3bn branch of HS2 linking Crew and Manchester with the west coast may be scrapped, the transport secretary reportedly told a senior Tory MP. The government insists no decisions have been made about the Golborne Link element of the project, despite claims Grant Shapps privately promised the chair of the 1922 committee, Sir [...]
HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson ‘concerned’ about project’s rising costs March 16, 2022 HS2 minister Andrew Stephenson said today he is concerned about the rate at which the railway project’s rising costs are soaring. Stephenson reported that HS2 had taken a further £500m between September 2021 and January 2022, in addition to the £5.6bn contingency funds. He added that the project’s “potential cost pressures” have gone up by [...]
HS2 unveils new London Euston designs March 9, 2022 HS2 has unveiled new design for its London Euston station, seven years after they were originally shown to the public. The updated concept has turned Euston from an initial 11-platform station to a 10-platform and simpler one, which will be built in one phase instead of two. According to HS2’s Euston are client director Laurence [...]
HS2 opens huge factory to ramp up works on UK longest railway bridge February 9, 2022 HS2 has built a temporary factory larger than Royal Albert Hall to ramp up works on the Colne Valley viaduct. Long 100 metres and with an internal volume of 105,000m3, the factory will build the 140-tonne segments that will constitute the deck of the 2.3 mile viaduct, making it the UK’s longest railway bridge. “We’re [...]
HS2 trains to run on zero-carbon energy as part of green push January 11, 2022 HS2 trains are set to run on zero carbon energy from the first day of operations. The decision was part of HS2’s Net Zero Carbon Plan which, published today, sets out how HS2 Ltd intends to achieve carbon neutrality, reducing the project’s environmental impact to zero. “We know that the climate crisis demands urgent action [...]
HS2 rushes to purchase land for phase one opening January 9, 2022 HS2 is rushing to acquire several square kilometres of land needed to complete the project’s first phase. Out of the 70km2 needed to connect London to Birmingham, 13km2 are yet to be acquired, a freedom of information request put forward by the Telegraph has revealed. The land for the project can be forcibly bought by [...]