Tom Pashby
An updated business case for the revised programme of works for High Speed 2 (HS2) will not be published until 2026 – more than a year later than originally planned.
The delay came to light in a letter dated 27 February from Department for Transport (DfT) permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly addressed to House of Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair Geoffrey Clifton-Brown.
In the letter, reported by Construction News’ sister magazine New Civil Engineer, Kelly provided updates on the recommendations by the PAC from its reports into the future of the HS2 project and how to bring it under control.
In the letter, Kelly said that while the DfT had originally set targets to publish the business case in 2024, “in light of developments in the HS2 programme and the need to reassess policy following the election of a new government, I need to revise the target implementation dates for the recommendations”.
She said that among a list of five recommendations from the committe, two relating to the business case specifically would have revised “target implementation” dates of “early 2026” rather than the original date of “during 2024”.
“Before producing an updated business case, the programme needs to be reset and the secretary of state has tasked the new chief executive of HS2 Ltd, Mark Wild, to review the remaining scope, the cost and the schedule needed to complete phase one and advise the government on what is required,” Kelly said.
Wild is the former Crossrail chief executive and was announced in May 2024 as the new HS2 chief executive. He started in the role late last year.
Wild’s appointment was part of a “series of reforms across the project aimed at bearing down on costs and safely delivering the scheme on time, in line with recent scope changes announced by the government”, HS2 Ltd said at the time.
The DfT confirmed in December 2024 that there would be a full programme “reset” at HS2 and did not know what the final estimated cost would be.
Kelly continued: “The department is planning to publish an updated programme business case in early 2026 after an agreed cost estimate is produced following the programme reset. The updated programme business case will include information related to the benefits realisation and evaluation.
“Beyond the updated business case, the department and HS2 Ltd have continued to report publicly on the realisation of HS2 benefits, including through the department’s six-monthly reports to Parliament.
“The department will continue to work across government to support the ongoing realisation of benefits.”
An HS2 spokesperson deferred to the DfT for comment.
The DfT did not respond to a request for comment.
The PAC has recently published a follow-up report on HS2, calling it a “casebook example” of how not to run a major project.
