HS2 opening 'to be delayed by two years' after damning report 'drives costs up by £37BILLION'

Daily Mail​

6 hours ago

HS2 is set to be delayed for another two years as a damning report reveals that costs for the project have increased by £37 billion.
On Wednesday Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander is due to announce that the remaining section of the high-speed railway line between London and Birmingham will no longer be completed in the target time of 2033.
She will say that the last Conservative government increased the cost of the project by £37 billion between 2012 and the general election, The Telegraph reported.
The Transport Secretary is set to accept 89 recommendations from an independent review into infrastructure projects which was spearheaded by former Crossrail chief executive James Stewart.
Mike Brown, former Transport for London (TfL) commissioner is set to become the new chairman of HS2 Limited - the company in charge of the project.
A damning dossier of shortcomings with the project is set to be published on Wednesday.
It is claimed that the document will say that the previous government spent £2 billion on the project between Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds before scrapping it and that more than £250 million was spent by HS2 Ltd on failed designs for a new station at Euston by HS2 Ltd.
The company was reportedly asked to provide a cheaper alternative, but ended up nearly doubling the price in the second design.
The project to build a high speed line between London, the Midlands and the North was announced in 2010 by then Conservative Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.
But ever since it has been beset by controversy amid ballooning costs - including spending £100million on a tunnel for bats.
This is despite there being 'no evidence' that the trains will interfere with the mammals, executive chairman chairman Sir Jon Thompson said.
He claimed this is an example of the UK's 'genuine problem' with completing major infrastructure projects.
The company also came under fire when £20,000 was spent on a model station made out of Lego.
The company spent the equivalent of £1 per plastic brick - and used it at 20 events in two years.
The toys were used to recreate a planned site to help inform communities, businesses and the public about a new train station.
The Lego version turned out to be roughly the size of a kitchen table, and consultants Bricks McGee were paid to construct it.
Earlier this month a whistleblower who lost his job after accusing HS2 executives of fraud over the true cost of the project won more than £300,000 in compensation.
Risk management expert Stephen Cresswell repeatedly raised concerns that the cost of the high speed rail line - which could end up landing the taxpayer with a bill of more than £80billion - was being 'actively misrepresented'.
The consultant was told by one HS2 executive to 'disregard' scenarios he had prepared which forecast a 'significant' increase in the price to the public, an employment tribunal heard.
As a result, Mr Cresswell warned that he found himself in a 'very uncomfortable position' of having a 'very different' view to the high speed rail line company's 'documented position'.
The tribunal heard that in a meeting with bosses he said 'fraud had been committed because he understood fraud to be making false statement so as to secure a benefit'.
After losing his job, Mr Cresswell took HS2 to an employment tribunal, claiming he had his contract terminated and been denied other work as a result of blowing the whistle.
After the rail firm admitted that he had not given adequate levels of protection following his disclosures he has now been awarded £319,070 in damages.
In response, campaigners said it was not to late for Labour to consider scrapping high speed rail over years of 'catastrophic mishandling'.
The Transport Secretary is set to blame the Conservatives for the rising price of the project over the past 15 years.
HS2 Ltd previously said investigations into Mr Cresswell's claims found no evidence of fraud or illegal activity.
In a statement it said: 'HS2 Ltd has accepted that Mr Cresswell raised concerns as a whistleblower and was not then given the appropriate level of protection when his contract came to an end.
'This is regrettable and HS2 Ltd is committed to ensuring that staff and others can raise concerns in confidence.
'This admission does not mean that HS2 Ltd accepts the specific allegations around cost estimating practices raised by Mr Cresswell.
'However, the company is under now under new leadership and a comprehensive review of its skills and structures is being carried out.'
Last month a DfT spokesperson said: 'We take all whistleblowing allegations seriously and it is important that individuals are given appropriate levels of protection, which clearly was not the case for Mr Cresswell.
'There is a lot of hard work still to do to get this project back on track, which is why we are overseeing a total reset of HS2, and reviewing the programme's costs, schedule and culture.'