A peer behind an HS2 review commissioned by ex-prime minister Boris Johnson has said the entire project should be scrapped amid reports the high-speed rail line may not reach its central London terminus at Euston because of rising costs.
Lord Berkeley called for the tens of billions of pounds being invested in the project to be diverted to improve mainline railway services across Britain.
Soaring inflation means the redeveloped Euston station may not open until 2038 and could be axed completely with trains instead stopping at a new hub at Old Oak Common in west London’s suburbs, according to The Sun.
The newspaper also reported that a two to five-year delay to the entire project is being considered.
A Department for Transport (DfT) report published less than three years ago described Euston as “an important part of realising the benefits” of HS2.
On Friday the department said the project is facing significant inflationary pressures.
Asked about HS2 following a speech in central London, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “HS2 was a specific priority for me in the autumn statement.”
He added: “I am incredibly proud, that under a Conservative government, for the first time we have shovels in the ground for the London to Birmingham part of HS2, and we are absolutely committed to showing that we can deliver big, important infrastructure projects.”
Phase One of HS2 involves the railway being built between London and Birmingham, with the line extended from the West Midlands to Crewe in Phase 2a.
Phase 2b will connect Crewe to Manchester and the West Midlands to the East Midlands.
The planned extension to Leeds was shelved in November 2021.
A DfT spokesman said: “The Government remains committed to delivering HS2 to Manchester, as confirmed in the autumn statement.
“As well as supporting tens of thousands of jobs, the project will connect regions across the UK, improve capacity on our railways and provide a greener option of travel.”
Lord Berkeley was deputy chairman of the Oakervee Review into HS2, commissioned by Mr Johnson in August 2019.
The then-prime minister gave the railway the green light to proceed in February 2020, despite the review warning that the total cost could reach £106 billion (at 2019 prices).
Lord Berkeley, a long-term sceptic of the project, told the PA news agency that Old Oak Common could only have capacity for around half the trains of Euston.
He said: “There’s not enough space for it (to be the London terminal) so they couldn’t do it except maybe (for) a shuttle service from Birmingham.
“What’s the point of building HS2 just to get to Birmingham?
“I think the whole thing should be cancelled.”
The project will connect regions across the UK
