LONDON — The British government has announced a two-year delay for completion of the second part of the new HS2 high speed line, ahead of a new government budget to be announced this week.
British Transportation Secretary Mark Harper, in announcing the delay for the section north of Birmingham to Crewe, said he was prioritizing delivery of HS2 from West London (Old Oak Common) to Birmingham to ensure passenger benefit from faster journeys as soon as possible. Harper referenced massive inflation, seen across the European construction industry, plus the ongoing impact of the Russia-Ukraine war —which has led to major construction cost increases — as the background to the decision to spread construction over more years. Harper announced similar multi-year delays to several major road construction projects for the same reasons.
Harper reiterated the intention of the current administration to build the entire line from a new station at London Euston to Manchester in the north of England. Both ends may now open at the same time in the 2040s, although construction at the London end has been underway for two years. The timeframe to complete the entire line is not currently clear; however, the London-Birmingham section should open in two stages. The initial stage will operate between the new Curzon Street station in Birmingham and a new partially underground interchange hub in West London at Old Oak Common. The second stage from there into central London is already being built, but is more complex, so will open with the new London Euston terminal several years later.
Construction of the London-Birmingham section is well advanced, with contracts recently awarded to equip the soon-to-be-completed route of tunnels, bridges, and embankments with railway tracks and equipment. Over $25 billion has already been spent on the London-Birmingham section, with billions more committed to buy trains, tracks, and related systems.
Construction of the project’s first phase was fully in progress in 2021 [see “Construction well under way …,” Trains News Wire, May 14, 2021], although the project has been trimmed from the form in which it was originally conceived [see “British government changes high speed rail plan,” News Wire, Nov. 23, 2021, and “British government drops another part of high planned high speed network,” June 20, 2022].
News of the delay produced plenty of negative headlines. Many of these, especially in northern England, complained about the delay in gaining economic benefits many cities expect from the line. Some, mostly southern English-based national news organizations reported the story as one of overrunning budgets.
Bipartisan support
While the main political opposition parties criticised the delay, they made no suggestion the project should be scrapped. Instead, opposition Labour Party politicians in northern England have demanded it be sped up and advocated expanding the planned line to include an underground through station in Manchester, allowing faster connections across the region. Currently even allowing for a change of government in 2024-25 — which opinion polls suggest is likely — the policy towards HS2 is unlikely to change, at least in the short term.
Most of the project’s vocal opposition has come from people living near the planned route, especially those who would suffer inconveniences from the construction but wouldn’t directly benefit, as no stations are planned outside major cities. This was particularly true of the area in the Chiltern Hills west of London, one of the most affluent regions in Britain and home to many who work in national media. The reality now is that basic construction in this area is fully underway or complete, so much of the most disruptive work has been done.
A two-year delay as opposed to CalHSR, behind schedule by about half a century.