Summary：The chairman of the high-speed railway service has written to the Department for Transport to warn that it canno...

The chairman of the high-speed railway service has written to the Department for Transport to warn that it cannot be completed for the original sum.

 

The Financial Times said Allan Cook, who is reviewing the project amid cost concerns, has predicted the final figure could end up being between £70 billion and £85 billion.

 

 An unnamed source told the newspaper the potential price increase is down to various factors including engineering costs and poor ground conditions.

 

Extra costs due to it being designed to run faster than other comparable rail projects was also named as an issue.

 

 

 

HS2 is planned to run up to 18 trains per hour at a top speed of 225mph – faster than France’s high speed TGV service which currently runs at around 200mph.

 

A spokesman for HS2 Ltd said: ‘We don’t comment on leaks or speculation. Alan Duncan 'quit to hold emergency vote to test Boris Johnson majority'

 

 ‘We have previously noted that our chair, as you would expect, continues to scrutinise the programme, and regularly reports back to the Department.’

 

A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: ‘The chairman of HS2 Ltd is conducting detailed work into of the costs and schedule of the project to ensure it delivers benefits to passengers, the economy and represents value for money for the taxpayer.

 

 ‘This work is ongoing. We expect Allan Cook to provide his final assessment in due course.’

 

 

 

Labour’s John McDonnell said he was ‘staggered’ by the reported figures, and branded this ‘another failing’ by Transport Secretary Chris Grayling.

 

The shadow chancellor told added: ‘It just demonstrates that the Government has lost control of this project, well, lost control over all of its transport policies. ‘It’s another failing by Grayling by the looks of it.’ It is not the first time concerns have been raised around the project coming in on budget. A report by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee in May warned it was ‘far from convinced’ it would be built for the original planned cost, and former HS2 chairman Sir Terry Morgan has claimed the project cannot be built to its current specification on budget.