HS2 could cost up to 102.7bn and trains will be slower than first planned

"PA Media HS2 could now cost up to 102.7bn, the transport secretary has announced, but vowed the government will deliver the project "to completion". Trains will not start running until between 2036 and 2039, up to six years later than the most recent official target of 2033, Heidi Alexander told the House of Commons. To save money, the trains' top speed - originally planned to be 360km/h (224mph) - will be reduced to 320km/h."

"The new cost range, delayed start and lower train speed are being announced as a "reset" of the delayed, over-budget and vastly scaled-back project is carried out. As of March 2026, 44.2bn has already been spent on the programme. Heidi Alexander said Labour had inherited a "litany of failure" from the previous government. "Instead of signalling the country's ambition, HS2 became a signal of the country's decline," she told MPs."

"Alexander said the rail project was now expected to cost between 87.7bn and 102.7bn in 2025 prices. When readjusted to 2019 prices, that is roughly double the price range set under the previous government. "If it seems like an obscene increase in time and costs, it is because it is," she said. "If it seems like I'm angry, it is because I am.""

""I can confirm today that it could cost almost as much to cancel the line as it would to finish it, while delivering none of the benefits," she said. "This country can build big things, we just need competent people at the helm to deliver them." Two-thirds of the increase in cost is due to an underestimate of costs by the previous government, inefficient delivery, and to works being missed from the scop"

HS2 could cost between 87.7bn and 102.7bn in 2025 prices, with 44.2bn already spent as of March 2026. Train services are not expected to begin until between 2036 and 2039, up to six years later than the previous target of 2033. To reduce costs, the planned maximum train speed is lowered from 360km/h to 320km/h. The changes are presented as a reset of a delayed, over-budget, and reduced project. The route is now London to Birmingham, after Manchester and Leeds legs were cancelled. The government says it will deliver the project to completion, noting that cancelling could cost almost as much as finishing.

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