HS2 trains could run at slower speeds than originally planned as part of a drive to keep the costs of the major rail project down.
Reducing the controversial high-speed rail’s top speed from its planned 360kph (223mph) could save “billions and bring the railway into service sooner,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said.
In a written statement to MPs, she revealed that the head of HS2 Ltd, Mark Wild, would report by mid-July on how slowing down trains could affect the project.
The minister said top speeds for HS2 could be reduced to 300kph (186mph), matching those of trains that run through the Channel Tunnel (HS1) – a reduction of 16.67%.
She added that she was “determined to explore every opportunity to remove… complexity from this project.”
Provisional estimates by Mr Wild suggest running trains at reduced speeds could save billions and lead to an earlier service start date, Ms Alexander said.
Under current plans, the trains would be “the fastest conventional high-speed trains anywhere in the world”.
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The minister claimed that a lack of tracks engineered for such fast trains would mean HS2 tracks would have to be finished before HS2 trains could be tested.
An approach Ms Alexander said “could increase costs and delay the completion of the project”.
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High-speed trains are typically classed as those running at speeds of at least 250kph (155mph), although market leaders like China and Spain have trains capable of hitting 350kph (217mph).
In separate comments, Mr Wild insisted that speed had “never been the primary objective” of HS2.
The HS2 boss said: “This railway will deliver better journeys, more capacity on the network, and economic growth – all of which are vital to the country’s future prosperity”.
In 2019, former HS2 chairman Sir Terry Morgan told a parliamentary committee: “I think most people regret actually calling it High Speed 2. It is about creating capacity.”
An overbudget and behind-schedule project
HS2 has been beset by cost overruns and delays.
The government and HS2 Ltd have spent the last year trying to establish how long the remaining work will take to complete and how much it will cost.
The transport secretary has said that the reset had shown “HS2 Ltd did not have an accurate assessment of how much work had been delivered, or of how much was left to do”.
In 2012, it was estimated that the London to Birmingham stretch of HS2 would cost £20.5bn (at 2019 prices). By January 2024, that figure had risen to £49bn-£56.6bn.
That stretch was predicted to open in December 2026; it now has an official target date of 2030, however Mr Wild has said completion by that date “cannot be achieved”.
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Original plans for the line to continue north until Manchester and Leeds were cancelled in October 2023 by Rishi Sunak at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester.
The remaining line will run between London’s Euston station, a new station in west London at Old Oak Common, and Birmingham Curzon Street.
Ms Alexander said: “I share the public’s anger about the waste and mess of the past,” and claimed the government was setting HS2 “on a more sensible course”.
Despite this, today’s update to MPs was only an interim report, as the transport secretary said she would not “risk publishing figures that we do not trust”.
She has promised that a more detailed update on the progress of the HS2 reset will “follow shortly”.
