The Government does not know how much it will cost to finish the HS2 high-speed line between London and the West Midlands, the Transport Secretary has admitted.
Louise Haigh said the costs had increased as a result of Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing in last month’s Budget that HS2 would eventually reach Euston rather than terminate at Old Oak Common.
She said there was also a need to redevelop the mainline station at Euston and the London Underground Tube station.
She said the mainline station, which is run by Network Rail, would be rebuilt with “public money” – rather than relying on private funding, which is what will be required for the adjacent HS2 station at Euston.
Answering questions from the Commons transport select committee on Wednesday, Ms Haigh said in relation to HS2: “We don’t yet know how much phase one will cost.
“Now that is partly due to the fact that we have just announced new scope, in confirming the delivery of the tunnelling to Euston.”
Phase one will link Euston with another new HS2 station at Birmingham Curzon Street and the Handsacre junction in the West Midlands, where HS2 will connect with the West Coast Main Line.
There has not been a review of HS2’s costs since the northern leg was cancelled by the then Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, a year ago.
At the time, the Tory government estimated the cost of phase one being £45-£54bn, rejecting figures from the HS2 Ltd board of £49bn - £57bn.
Ms Haigh has ordered a review of the governance of HS2, and an interim report is due in December. This will look at the costs incurred by HS2 Ltd, the firm that oversees the project.
She said it was “not good enough” that HS2 had been without a chief executive for over a year, following the resignation of Mark Thurston in the summer of 2023.
Mark Wild, the former Crossrail chief executive, is due to start next year.
Former Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild - who got the project finished - to become new @HS2ltd boss
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) May 24, 2024
Transport committee member Alex Mayer, the Labour MP for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard, described Euston mainline station as “rather grotty”.
In response, Ms Haigh, who describes herself as the “passenger-in-chief, not the Fat Controller”, said: “There are three stations that will need work at Euston.
“There is the conventional Network Rail station that needs a little bit of redevelopment, the HS2 station and the Underground station.
“Under the previous government, there were several attempts to try to bring that work together, none of which of the proposals were affordable.
“We are working with Camden [council] and the GLA [Greater London Authority], through a potential development corporation, to look at how we can leverage private finance into the new HS2 station.
“The conventional station will be publicly funded.”
Network Rail told The Standard that, in the short and medium term, improvements to Euston rail station would focus on better passenger flows and upgraded toilets, under its five-point plan published last month.
It is “at the very early stages” of considering more significant changes, and funds for the long-term redevelopment of Euston “have yet to be identified”.
A Network Rail spokesperson said on Thursday: “We're developing plans for a major upgrade at Euston, which will deliver a brand-new station concourse that’s fit for the future, brighter and offers much better facilities to passengers.
“We continue to work with partners to ensure our revamped station integrates with the new HS2 station, TfL services and new homes, community, office and retail spaces."
Ms Haigh has already made efforts to tackle the so-called “Euston rush”, and ordered that the large advertising screens above the concourse, which were “agitating passengers unduly”, be temporarily turned off.
Committee chair Ruth Cadbury asked Ms Haigh for assurances that the new stations would be big enough to cope with expected passenger numbers for the remainder of the 21st century.
“Absolutely – that is the challenge,” Ms Haigh replied.
