Recommendation 9

In our previous reports we have regularly raised concerns about escalating costs and cost forecasts for the HS2 programme. For example, in our May 2020 report we commented that “The High Speed Two programme has gone badly off-course and is now estimated to cost up to £88 billion, significantly more than the original budget of £55.7 billion (both figures are 2015 prices)”.20 In our September 2021 report we noted that “The programme’s funding was reset in 2020 and is now expected to cost a total of between £72 billion and £98 billion (2019 prices). The Phase One budget is £44.6 billion including almost £10 billion of contingency (2019 prices).”21