Britain’s Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, has made clarification on HS2 mismanagement as report reveals historic mishandling for the implementation of country’s high-speed rail project. As a result, the government has taken decisive action to get back control of HS2 including appointing Mike Brown as the new HS2 Ltd Chair.
The Transport Secretary announced that she will accept all recommendations from the James Stewart review addressing years of HS2 mismanagement and restore public trust in HS2.
First commissioned by the government in October last year, the report sets out evidence of the historic mishandling of HS2 including a lack of ministerial oversight and scrutiny, inadequate control of the project by HS2 Ltd and a lack of effective incentives with the supply chain, which will collectively cost the taxpayer billions more than planned.
In a statement to Parliament, the Secretary of State condemned the ‘litany of failure’ that has plagued HS2, citing spiralling costs, ineffective oversight and broken promises.
Without action, Phase 1 alone risks becoming one of the most expensive railway lines in the world, with costs ballooning by GBP 37 billion (EUR 43.4 billion) and GBP 2 billion (EUR 2.4 billion) wasted on cancelled Phase 2 works.
Since entering office, the government has taken decisive action to get back control of HS2 including:
- appointing new leadership to reset the project;
- commissioning the James Stewart review;
- reducing financial delegations to HS2 Ltd;
- limiting what the company can do without government approval to place a lid on spiralling costs until the reset is complete and providing GBP 25 billion (EUR 29.3 billion) in the recent Spending Review to support all of this work.
The Transport Secretary confirmed that Mike Brown will be taking over as HS2 Ltd Chair, working alongside CEO Mark Wild to deliver a programme reset, including reviewing the costs and schedule, renegotiating HS2’s large construction contracts and reviewing HS2 Ltd’s skills and structure. The Transport Secretary has asked Mark Wild to be ready to provide an update on revised costs and delivery timescales at the end of the year.
“This must be a line in the sand. This government is delivering HS2 from Birmingham to London after years of mismanagement, flawed reporting and ineffective oversight,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
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