Cost of HS2 Phase 1 could top ?66 billion

The cost of building Phase 1 of HS2 between London and Birmingham could now be as much as ?66.6 billion, when inflation is taken into account. The latest figure has been revealed by HS2 executive chair Sir Jon Thompson, who has been giving evidence to the Commons Transport Committee today. He said: ‘The costs of delivery are more than the government budgeted, and that is before you begin to account for the extraordinary construction inflation over the last three years or so. We now estimate that Phase 1 will cost between ?49 billion and ?56.6 billion before inflation, so that's at a 2019 price, against the government's budget of ?45 billion.’