Recommendation 2

The Department has made little progress on the design and delivery at Euston since we last reported, and we remain concerned that time is running out. Euston station is a key element of the programme both as the London terminus for High Speed 2 and a link to existing railway network and London Underground. We raised concerns over the lack of clarity of the design and delivery of Euston station in our May 2020 report, but the Department has made no final decisions 6 HS2 Summer 2021 since then. The redevelopment of Euston station is currently estimated to cost £2.6 billion. Despite HS2 Ltd telling us last year that the design of the station was ready for planning consent, the Department has spent the past 15 months looking for cost saving options and efficiency opportunities, including the potential for a smaller station. HS2 Ltd asserts that it is getting close to the point where the programme will literally run out of time if a decision is not made soon, and that Old Oak Common is being set as the London terminus when the railway first opens to decouple it from the risks at Euston. The Department recognises that Euston is a very urgent and immediate challenge and expects to report on progress in autumn 2021. We recognise the benefits Euston provides, such as redevelopment opportunities around the station, as well as its complexity in being built at a busy operational railway in a city centre location, but the uncertainty of this part of the programme is substantial. This impacts businesses, passengers, residents and other industry stakeholders. This uncertainty needs to be resolved urgently, and the Department needs to ensure appropriate assurance has been completed on the decisions taken on the design and delivery arrangements. Recommendation: The Department should set out in its next 6-monthly report to Parliament: • the decisions that it has made about Euston; • details of the assurances it has undertaken; • its timeline on when remaining decision points will be