HS2 CEO: "We only get one shot" at reset as he explains how project has become "discontinuous"

HS2 Ltd Chief Executive, Mark Wild, insists the year-long reset can only happen once, as he aims to turn around the beleaguered project.

Since taking over as CEO in December 2024, Wild has initiated a full programme reset which is expected to take a year to complete. However, when speaking to RAIL, Wild insists that it will be a productive period.

“We’ve got one shot at this and I’m very very confident. We need to space to do it, which we are getting currently, and we need to see the quality of work," he said.

“But everyone understands it’s worth doing once.”

A Public Accounts Committee hearing in January was told the overall cost for Phase 1 of HS2 was not known, and neither HS2 Ltd or the Department for Transport would be able to give an updated cost estimate until  “realistically 2026”.

Despite the delays and cost overspends, the reset is necessary to understand what has been going wrong, Wild explained.

“HS2 had become discontinuous. Whenever you build something, whether that is submarine or a railway, things get delayed. That is what happened with HS2 - the civil engineering has got delayed. So, that means systems engineering is waiting for civils which means that things become parallel and that needs to be corrected.”

He believes it was one of the things which almost killed Crossrail - the project where Wild made his name and successfully turned around after costs had spiralled out of control.

“People returning to finish work was one of the biggest issues for Crossrail at the time. Engineers could only do half the job because they had a kilometre of cable but only have access to 500 metres. It’s those kinds of things, which seem small but have huge implications, that you want to stop with a reset.” he added.

Whilst stating he could have conceivably made the same mistakes, he reiterated to RAIL that HS2 started too soon without a mature design, and rushed ahead with a risk imbalance.

But he delivered a stark reminder of the problems that HS2 has found itself in.

“We are five years behind schedule. We should be 70%-80% complete by now. So, what are we complete? Well, we don’t actually know because the project has become disconnected from reality. It’s possibly a third complete.”

Work to connect the project back to reality is continuing however, with Wild and the wider team looking at culture, productivity and efficiency across the whole project, so HS2 can accurately provide the DfT and the government a “reliable route to the finish line” as Wild puts it.

There is lots of unreliability within the HS2 project itself, with questions on Euston, Phase 2b and ultimately costs and deadlines to be answered.

Wild would not be drawn on costs which have been reported to be closer to £80 billion once the project is finished, but was not expecting material changes within the upcoming Spending Review on June 11.

“I don’t really have any expectations. It’s something for the government and obviously we provide advice of where we are but that does not include the reset, as that is something which must happen.”