Transport chiefs have no idea what they want troubled HS2 hub at Euston to be – despite years of planning
TRANSPORT chiefs have no idea what they want the troubled HS2 hub at Euston to be – despite eight years of planning and designing it.
A damning watchdog report warns inflation costs of the flagship 10-platformed station are set to soar past £2.6billion budget to £4.8billion – and that ministers have no idea of the impact on locals.
They hit pause on construction for the troubled line earlier this year – after The Sun revealed chaos at the heart of the project.
The London hub has been kicked down the tracks and ministers have yet to make decisions about its future amid rows with the Treasury over cash.
Soaring inflation means the high speed train project is seeing huge hikes of up to 40 per cent in the cost of raw materials.
The watchdog calls on ministers to urgently reassess the designs and expectations for the station against what it is willing to spend.
And the Treasury should set out how they are going to manage the spiralling inflation on the station.
Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “The HS2 Euston project is floundering.
“This is a multi-billion pound scheme which has already caused major disruption to the local community put on pause.
“The pause, ostensibly to save money, is not cost free – mothballing and possible compensation for businesses which have lost work will all need to be added to the HS2 tally.
“The Government must now be clear what it is trying to achieve with this new station, and how it will benefit the public.
“Our report finds that a wildly unrealistic budget for HS2 Euston was set in 2020 in the expectation that it would be revised.
“The Government must demonstrate that it is not just repeating the same mistakes of unrealistic costings.
“HS2 Euston has shown us that forging ahead over-optimistically in an unclear direction is clearly not the right approach.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “We remain committed to delivering HS2 from Euston to Manchester in the most cost-effective way for taxpayers, which is why earlier this year we made the decision to rephase the construction of Euston to help balance the nation’s books and work on an affordable design for the station.
“The National Audit Office recently acknowledged this will provide time to put the station design on a more stable footing and we continue to work at pace to ensure the transformational benefits of HS2 are delivered to passengers by better connecting our biggest cities, supporting thousands of jobs and helping grow the economy.
“We note the recommendations made in the Committee’s report and will respond to them in due course.”