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(BUTTON) Search with google * Make a contribution * Subscribe * (BUTTON) International edition + switch to the UK edition + switch to the US edition + switch to the Australia edition * Search jobs * Dating * Holidays * Digital Archive * Discount Codes * The Guardian app * Video * Podcasts * Pictures * Newsletters * Today's paper * Inside the Guardian * The Observer * Guardian Weekly * Crosswords * Facebook * Twitter * Search jobs * Dating * Holidays * Digital Archive * Discount Codes * UK * UK politics * Education * Media * Society * Law * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland (BUTTON) More HS2 This article is more than 4 months old HS2 could be scrapped as critic given role in independent review This article is more than 4 months old Government needs clear evidence before going ahead, says transport secretary Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent @GwynTopham Wed 21 Aug 2019 18.37 BST First published on Wed 21 Aug 2019 10.38 BST * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email Artist’s impression of HS2 train [ ] An artist’s impression of a HS2 train on the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct. Photograph: HS2/PA The future of the HS2 high-speed rail project has been thrown into doubt after the government launched a “go or no go” review into the proposed £55.7bn network, with a leading critic of the scheme as its joint author. The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said on Wednesday that the government needed “clear evidence” before deciding whether to go ahead. The project is opposed by many Conservative party members and has been beset by questions over its escalating budget, with the prime minister, Boris Johnson, recently admitting he expected it to be “north of £100bn”. The HS2 review team and what they say Read more Shapps said he had told the review to “just give us the facts … really, genuinely what it would cost to complete this project. Then we will know and we will be in a much better position to make the decision to go or no go by the end of the year.” News of the review, which sources said could be completed by early October before the Brexit deadline, was met with dismay by business groups, unions and northern leaders, who called on the government to commit to the full line between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds as soon as possible. The review will be chaired by Douglas Oakervee, a retired engineer who briefly chaired HS2 Ltd and worked with Johnson when he was London mayor. His deputy, Lord Berkeley, a railway expert and Labour peer, is a critic of the project who has repeatedly challenged the Department for Transport’s (DfT) cost figures and warned that budgets were spiralling out of control. HS2 graphic Whitehall sources have been increasingly pessimistic about the project’s future following the appointment of another HS2 arch-critic, Andrew Gilligan, as a Downing Street transport adviser. And Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s senior adviser, was reported to have described HS2 as a “disaster zone” at a meeting last week. The inquiry will examine whether the HS2 scheme linking London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds should be approved, amended or scrapped entirely. Timeline HS2 - over-budget and behind schedule Show Hide January 2009 High Speed Two Ltd is set up by the Labour government to examine possibilities for increasing high-speed rail capacity in the UK. March 2010 The project is split into two phases –œœ London to Birmingham forms phase one, with phase two extending the route to Manchester and Leeds. January 2012 The transport secretary, Justine Greening, announces the decision to build HS2. April 2012 A judicial review is called into the HS2 decision. March 2013 Lord Justice Ouseley upholds one of the 10 grounds for complaint about HS2 in the judicial review – the claim that the government had acted unfairly and unlawfully when consulting on compensation for homeowners affected by the route. November 2013 The prime minister, David Cameron, describes the project as "absolutely vital" as MPs approve funding. The high-speed rail (London-West Midlands) bill is formally introduced in parliament. June 2015 After freedom of information requests, a 2012 Department for Transport viability report into HS2 is released, revealing the department considered it unaffordable. December 2018 Allan Cook replaces Sir Terry Morgan as chair of HS2, after the latter fails to deliver the opening of the Crossrail project in London on schedule. March 2019 A report from the New Economics Foundation suggests HS2 will deliver the most benefit to London, and exacerbate regional inequality. August 2019 A fresh government review into HS2 is launched, expected to last a matter of weeks and produce a final report by the autumn into whether the scheme should be approved, amended or scrapped entirely. 3 September 2019 The Conservative transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announces that full HS2 services between London and Birmingham will be delayed by up to five years to 2031, and that the final completion of the northern section of the high-speed rail network would likely be delayed by seven years until 2040. He also confirmed the budget had escalated from the official £56bn at 2015 prices to up to £88bn at today’s prices. 2031 The proposed date for the start of the service. Was this helpful? (like) (dislike) Thank you for your feedback. An advisory panel to the review has been set up that includes leading rail figures, most of whom are supportive, but also features sceptics including the former Bank of England monetary policy committee member Andrew Sentance. The panel will have no right of veto on the final report. Berkeley has previously suggested halting the scheme at Old Oak Common in London, rather than Euston, and cancelling work north of Crewe. He has also said the budget would spiral to double the official £55.7bn figure. “One thing we’ve been promised is all the evidence, and I don’t believe the DfT has given all the honest evidence. There is so much that they haven’t disclosed. This project is probably 50% over [budget] already and they haven’t hardly started yet,” he said on Wednesday. “I think [Boris Johnson] is keen that the DfT’s documentation is exposed. We’ve got to look at the evidence of the costs and also the potential revenue and some cost-benefits. And then we have to look at alternatives if it gets cancelled – and the costs of doing that.” A review of the scheme was promised by Johnson in his campaign to become Conservative leader. The prime minister has said he is in favour of large infrastructure projects, although opposition to HS2 has been widespread among the Tory grassroots. YouGov polling in May showed 49% of Conservative voters opposed building HS2, compared with 40% of the population as a whole. Soon after taking office, Johnson promised to prioritise the building of a high-speed connection between Manchester and Leeds, at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme. However, transport and rail planners say the scheme is dependent on, rather than separate from, HS2. The terms of reference say the review will inform the prime minister’s decision on “whether and how we proceed” with HS2. Phase one to Birmingham has already been approved by parliament, although Treasury funds for the major civil engineering contracts announced in 2017 have yet to be released under a “notice to proceed”. The review will examine whether Northern Powerhouse Rail could be prioritised over building southern sections of HS2, or whether costs could be cut by modifying plans to build past Birmingham rather than jettisoning the whole project. That could mean reducing line speeds, or making Old Oak Common the London terminus, as Berkeley suggested. Berkeley said he believed more rail capacity was needed, but added: “I’m opposed to saying it’s a good thing for the country and we should do it regardless of the costs.” But he added: “I share the view with [Johnson] that the investment needs to be in the north.” HS2: hated by some, halted in parts, but still making progress Read more While the mayor of Birmingham, Andy Street, is on the review advisory panel, northern leaders are not, although John Cridland, the chair of Transport for the North, is a member. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, said HS2 was vital, as well as Northern Powerhouse Rail. “People in the north will be wary of this review. There is no elected representative from the north on the review team and, too often, government promises to the north have proved to be about as reliable as our trains,” he said. Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for the north, said “to even suggest cancelling HS2 is a slap in the face”. HS2 needed greater transparency and accountability, he said, but building it was “vital if we’re to rebalance our economy”. Labour backs investment in high-speed rail, but Andy McDonald, the shadow transport secretary, said “improved governance of railway expansion was needed, not least over the HS2 project”. He said Labour wanted “an independent peer review to consider the project’s environmental and economic impact and its governance”. Dr Adam Marshall, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said HS2 would “attract investment to surrounding areas and rejuvenate local economies”. He added: “Business communities across the UK will be concerned about the potential for further delays to HS2.” The CBI’s director of infrastructure, Tom Thackray, said the business message on HS2 was “clear-cut – back it, build it, benefit from it”. The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “HS2 is vital to the development of the UK economy and there must be no question of it being scrapped.” Anti-HS2 campaigners criticised the review, however, for being led by Oakervee, and “stuffed full of supporters of high-speed rail”. Joe Rukin, the campaign manager of Stop HS2, said: “If this is to be a genuine review, the government must cease all works immediately.” • Sign up to the daily Business Today email here or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk. Topics * HS2 * Rail industry * Rail transport * Transport * Grant Shapps * Transport policy * news * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email * Share on LinkedIn * Share on Pinterest * Share on WhatsApp * Share on Messenger * Reuse this content more on this story * HS2: parliament misled about true cost, says Labour peer Deputy chair of government review into project claims HS2 chiefs ‘fiddled the figures’ Published: 5 Jan 2020 HS2: parliament misled about true cost, says Labour peer * HS2 costs head north just as its value falls south Nils Pratley The review panel’s advice to plough on despite rising costs is astonishing Published: 12 Nov 2019 Published: 12 Nov 2019 HS2 costs head north just as its value falls south * Co-author of leaked HS2 report demands his name is removed Lord Berkeley at odds with chair of the Oakervee review over costs and benefits Published: 12 Nov 2019 Co-author of leaked HS2 report demands his name is removed * Politicians' anger at threat to HS2 Leeds-Sheffield rail route Reports claim eastern extension of high-speed network could be scrapped to cut costs Published: 5 Oct 2019 Politicians' anger at threat to HS2 Leeds-Sheffield rail route * + Clearance of ancient woodlands for HS2 to be halted until review Published: 16 Sep 2019 Clearance of ancient woodlands for HS2 to be halted until review + HS2 to be delayed by up to five years as cost spirals to up to £88bn Published: 3 Sep 2019 HS2 to be delayed by up to five years as cost spirals to up to £88bn + If ministers want to rebalance the economy, they must scrap HS2 Larry Elliott Published: 3 Sep 2019 Published: 3 Sep 2019 If ministers want to rebalance the economy, they must scrap HS2 + View on HS2 from the Chilterns: ‘A big vanity project like Concorde’ Published: 21 Aug 2019 View on HS2 from the Chilterns: ‘A big vanity project like Concorde’ (BUTTON) More more on this story Most popular * UK * UK politics * Education * Media * Society * Law * Scotland * Wales * Northern Ireland * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle IFRAME: /email/form/footer/today-uk + Contact us + Complaints & corrections + SecureDrop + Work for us + Privacy policy + Cookie policy + Terms & conditions + Help + All topics + All writers + Digital newspaper archive + Facebook + Twitter + Advertise with us + Search UK jobs + Dating + Discount Codes Support The Guardian Available for everyone, funded by readers Contribute Subscribe Back to top © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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