HS2 construction up to three years behind schedule, MPs told

HS2 Ltd Chief Executive Mark Wild has told MPs that only a third of the controversial project has actually been built and that work is currently two-three years behind schedule.

The HS2 boss, who is currently working on a major ‘reset’ of the project told the Transport Select Committee that against the original baseline construction of the civil engineering which should have been largely completed by now, “the reality is we're about 60% complete”.

The construction of physical structures like tunnels and viaducts is only part of the overall project and Wild blamed the fact that it was only a third complete on what he termed “inefficacy of work” with construction starting before design work on the scheme had been finalised.

Wild, who’s previous roles included managing construction delays and the opening of the Elizabeth line said: “It's a very, very important lesson. Projects must not be mobilised and commenced if you haven't got the design and consents, because the productivity of the teams, the hard-working teams, is so leveraged if you're waiting for the design.”

Wild blamed the delays on what he called “systemic issues”.

After the ‘Notice to Proceed’ was granted back in 2020, he said HS2 Ltd proceeded too quickly and without the “maturity of design and consenting”.

He also stated that there was an “imbalance of risk” with too much of the risk being taken by the government and HS2 Ltd. He told MPs that “virtually none of the risk is held by the supply chain.”

He added: “The fact that at the notice to proceed the supply chain couldn't price the risk was a known issue and should have been a red flag.”

Despite that the contracts were still let.

“What we’re seeing is the crystallisation of risk. They (the contracts) should have cost £19.5 billion and we’ve already spent £26bn and we are over halfway done.”

Wild maintained that risk couldn’t be priced because of the lack of design work.

He suggested that, even now, some design work had yet to be completed.

“The design is currently 84% complete and by the end of this financial year I'll make that 91%,” he told MPs.

On the subject of his work resetting the project, Wild made it clear that he was grateful for the “time and space” he’d been given to, as he put it, “get it right”.

He said: “I feel very supported by government ministers, the Department for Transport (DfT) and that's why you know it will take a year to at least get to reliable ranges and might take a little bit after that.”

Wild appeared before the committee alongside Rail Minister Lord Peter Hendy.

Hendy told the hearing: “I should say that politicians are the decision makers so they must be ultimately accountable. There have been a lot of politicians since 2010 associated with this and we must all bear some responsibility. I think mine is mostly to come.”

Hendy also appeared to agree that construction of HS2 Phase 1 had proceeded too quickly.

“My observation, looking backwards, is simply that there's been a number of years where the speed of construction of the project appears to be rather more important than its cost and we're now living the consequences of it.”

The minister also made it clear that since Labour came into office it had taken all the steps it could to uncover and start to sort out the project.

He stated that Wild’s appointment as the new Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd was “clearly very significant”.

Lord Hendy also commented on the need to integrate HS2 with the rest of the rail network and not be a line in isolation.

He told MPs: “One of my objectives here is to make sure that this is built as part of a system. Whereas I think if you go back some of my predecessors, and certainly the originators, thought that it was going to be a completely separate railway network, nothing to do with what we've got. Well, that's no longer true.”

Last year the DfT’s top civil servant, Bernadette Kelly, told the Select Committee that she didn’t know how much HS2 would cost.

Wild said the key issue for the reset of HS2 was to come up with a deliverable programme and budget.

That, he indicated, would take at least another six months.

“The problem with HS2 is that we’ve lost control of the programme,” he said.