HS2 Issues Surface at TSC Session

[LNW-GW Joint]

Jon Thompson, Chair of HS2 Ltd, has updated the Transport Select Committee today, with more unpalatable facts about the Phase 1 project.

HS2 to Birmingham may cost £65bn, railway boss says

Sir Jonathan Thompson says inflation has added up to £10bn to cost of London to Birmingham stretch.

www.bbc.co.uk

- costs are now more likely to be £65 billion at 2024 prices, and the government doesn't accept this figure
- HS2 trains will run slower than Pendolinos on the WCML, and carry fewer passengers, because of the lack of 400m platforms north of Birmingham

The London to Birmingham stretch of the HS2 railway could cost more than £65bn in current prices, the boss of the company building it has said.
Sir Jonathan Thompson said a rise in the cost of materials such as concrete and steel over the past few years have added £8bn to £10bn.
In October the government cancelled the sections between the West Midlands, Manchester, and the East Midlands.
Now HS2 Ltd and the government disagree on the cost of building the rest.

The company's latest estimate for the London to Birmingham stretch is between £49bn and £56.6bn in 2019 prices.
The government thinks it should be delivered at the lower end of £45bn to £54bn. These estimates were put together before October's announcement.
However, Sir Jonathan does not believe £45bn is possible. He said the price tag might be lower without the taxpayer funding a new station at Euston, but doubted that would bring down the cost as much as the government stated.
(snip)
Sir Jonathan also said HS2 trains will travel more slowly than existing Pendolino trains when they travel on conventional tracks between Birmingham and Manchester, because they cannot tilt on bends.
He said he expects fewer seats to be available on HS2 north of Birmingham now the legs to Manchester and Crewe have been scrapped, due to trains having to be shorter to fit existing platforms. HS2 trains of the same length as the current Pendolinos could be used, but would have fewer seats.

The TSC session can be viewed here:

Parliamentlive.tv

Transport Committee

parliamentlive.tv

 

[jfowkes]

Every time I hear the "HS2 slower than pendolinos" thing I have to ask if that's just maximum speed or average. Lower maximum speed through curves doesn't matter if you can still achieve the same average by having higher acceleration.

 

[jayah]

Cross Country Voyagers between Birmingham and Manchester don't tilt and only have 4 carriages.

Can it really be true the route from Curzon Street to Manchester will be slower than the trundle through Wolverhampton?

 

[matt]

Being discussed here https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...select-committee-10-1-24.260886/#post-6579789