Failing HS2 may not even reach Birmingham, say MPs

High-speed rail between London and Birmingham may never be delivered because the government and HS2 lack "the skills or capacities" to complete the project, a powerful committee of MPs has warned.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The Commons public accounts committee (PAC) said the rail project should be studied as an example of “how not to run a major project”, with billions of pounds of taxpayer funds having already been wasted.

And, despite the northern leg of HS2 having been axed to cut costs, a move first revealed by The Independent, the PAC warned it has doubts about the government’s ability “to deliver even a curtailed scheme”.

In a damning report, the committee added that even if the slimmed down HS2 project is delivered, it will “bring very poor value for money”. One example the committee cited in the waste associated with HS2 was the building of a bat protection tunnel in Buckinghamshire costing more than £100m.

PAC chair and senior Tory MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: “The question has instead become: what possible benefit can the government now salvage for the taxpayer, from a mess that presents real risks to the UK’s overall reputation?”