‘Short-sighted’ ministers are to blame for the spiralling costs of HS2, blasts a former chairman of the project who accuses Downing Street of trying to pass the buck
- Allan Cook chaired the HS2 project between 2018 and 2021
A former HS2 chairman has blamed ‘short-sighted’ ministers for the project’s spiralling costs.
Allan Cook, who chaired the project between 2018 and 2021, accused Downing Street of trying to pass the buck over who was responsible for going over budget.
He said government officials agreed ‘every penny spent’ during ‘monthly meetings’ with ministers, No 10 staff, the Treasury and the Department for Transport. Mr Cook also said that allegations briefed by Downing Street sources that HS2 chiefs unilaterally ‘over-specced’ the project and acted like ‘kids with the golden credit card’ were incorrect and that ‘nothing could be further from the truth’.
The war of words came as five Labour mayors joined forces to warn that failure to deliver HS2 in full would ‘leave swathes of the North with Victorian transport infrastructure’.
Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham, Tracy Brabin, Oliver Coppard and Steve Rotheram gathered in Leeds yesterday to issue a joint plea to Rishi Sunak not to cut HS2 further.
Former HS2 chairman Allan Cook has blamed ‘short-sighted’ ministers for the project’s spiralling costs
An artist’s impression of an HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct, part of the proposed route for the HS2 high speed rail scheme
The Prime Minister is weighing up whether to axe the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the project after becoming ‘alarmed’ at the surging costs. A decision to delay the leg by up to seven years is also being considered, as well as whether HS2 trains should run into London Euston or Old Oak Common.
READ MORE: HS2? Reviving slow branch lines to our forgotten market towns would REALLY get the country moving, says PETER HITCHENS
Mr Cook said he was ‘dismayed’ the PM was thinking of scrapping the Birmingham to Manchester leg. He told the Mail: ‘The implication, it would seem, is that the project is now out of control despite the Government’s best efforts. Nothing could be further from the truth.
‘Representatives from the Treasury and transport department sat on the HS2 board during my time as chairman. There was total transparency of every decision and every penny spent. HS2 had monthly meetings with ministers and officials from No 10, the Treasury and Department for Transport. Any suggestion the company is ‘massively over-speccing’ the structure is incorrect.’
He added: ‘Perhaps my biggest frustration is the constant short-sighted approach to large infrastructure programmes.
‘Uncertainty is the enemy of big projects. It drives up costs and slows down progress. The most scandalous waste of money would be to end the line at Birmingham, incurring all of the costs and delivering very little real benefit.’
A government spokesman said: ‘The HS2 project is already well under way with spades in the ground, and our focus remains on delivering it.’
One of the two Tunnel Boring Machines, (TBMs) run by HS2 ltd begins its operation on October 6, 2022 in Ruislip
An aerial view of the groundworks construction of the HS2 high speed rail network progresses around the A38 dual-carriageway near Streethay
Source: Read Full Article
