Government report finds a "litany of mistakes" were made by HS2

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has today (June 18) announced a sweeping overhaul of HS2, accepting all five recommendations from the landmark James Stewart Review, which uncovers a “litany of failure” and years of mismanagement at the heart of Britain’s flagship high-speed rail project.

In a statement to Parliament, Alexander vowed to “draw a line in the sand” regarding the beleaguered project, also stating that the Government aims to restore public trust and deliver the London to Birmingham route within a reset framework.

The James Stewart Review, commissioned in October 2024, painted a stark picture of a project plagued by spiralling costs, poor oversight, and a supply chain misaligned with taxpayer value—issues that have collectively inflated costs by an estimated £37 billion.

The Secretary of State confirmed that Mike Brown, former Commissioner of Transport for London, will take over as Chair of HS2 Ltd, working alongside CEO Mark Wild to lead the programme’s reset. Wild, who played a key role in turning around the delayed Elizabeth Line, has already begun implementing reforms within the organisation.

"Mark Wild and Mike Brown were part of the team, with me, that turned Crossrail into the Elizabeth Line—we have done it before, we will do it again,” said Alexander. “Passengers and taxpayers deserve new railways the country can be proud of, and the work to get HS2 back on track is firmly underway.”

Wild’s initial assessment, published today (June 18), confirmed that the original cost, schedule, and scope of the HS2 project are no longer sustainable.

The report also said that trains will not be operational by 2033 as previously promised, and continued cost escalation is inevitable without urgent intervention.

Announcing the delay in the House of Commons, Alexander said that "Billions of pounds of taxpayers' money has been wasted by constant scope changes, ineffective contracts and bad management."

The Shadow Transport Secretary Gareth Bacon MP admitted in response to Alexander’s statement in Parliament that “mistakes were made” with costings – partly blaming rising inflation costs and the COVID pandemic as reasons for why the project had problems.

“It’s long been apparent that the project has being going wrong.” Bacon added.

The second phase of the project between Birmingham and Manchester was cancelled by then-prime minister, Rishi Sunak in 2023, with Bacon highlighting that issues were flagged in the Public Accounts Committee as early as 2021.

The findings were welcomed by Railway Industry Association (RIA) Chief Executive Darren Caplan with him adding: “It is now essential that HS2 Ltd’s CEO Mark Wild is given the time and space he and his team needs to carry out a ‘reset’ of the programme to deliver this project, so crucial to increasing UK rail capacity to the benefit of towns, cities, communities and the country’s economic needs for decades to come.”

The union Unite said that there had been warnings on the project's mismanagement earlier in the process, with its national officer for construction Jason Poulter said: "Unite has raised numerous warnings about the conduct and management of contracts on HS2 for years. These included requests for transparent and forensic audits that are common practice on other national infrastructure projects but this has been disregarded.