Is the eastern leg of HS2 going ahead?

The first part, between west London and Birmingham, is already being constructed. But the scheme as a whole has already faced delays, cost increases and cuts - including the planned eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds which was axed in late 2021.



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The entirety of the HS2 rail link between London and Birmingham is to be scrapped and replaced with a train of Dacia Sanderos welded together, the government has announced.

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HS2 will be delayed by another two years and major roadbuilding schemes will be mothballed, ministers have confirmed, after soaring inflation added billions to the cost of transport infrastructure projects.

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High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages.

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How much will tickets cost? There is likely to be a premium of between 20 and 33 per cent for using the fast service. That would in theory push the cost of a London-Manchester Anytime ticket from £180 to £240 at 2020 prices, which works out at 6p per second.

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The quickest train from London Euston to Birmingham is just under 1h 20m. The HS2 train will take about 50 minutes. “It's supposed to be high speed but the train to Birmingham isn't that long anyway,” says Webb. “I won't be using it.

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Journeys between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston will take just one hour and 11 minutes on HS2, 54 minutes quicker than today's fastest time by rail.

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HS2 Ltd, the state-funded body responsible for delivering the line, failed to add enough contingency to its cost estimates after using a calculation method that was inappropriate for the early stage of the programme.

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HS2 does not anticipate being the fastest network once it is up and running. Indeed, Japan has already test-run a new bullet train, powered by electrically charged magnets, which reached an incredible 603km per hour.

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The landmark contracts – worth an initial £2bn – will see the JV design, build and maintain a fleet of 54 state-of-the-art high-speed trains that will operate on HS2. They are the first trains in the world to achieve the British Standards Institute's PAS 2080 global accreditation.

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HS2 will free up capacity on the existing lines, enabling more local commuter services and more freight services – more freight trains will help take lorries off the road and provide environmental benefits. The project has had a negative effect on economic, social and environmental factors.

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High Speed 2 (HS2) Ltd is a non-departmental public body, wholly funded by the Secretary of State for Transport and sponsored by the Department for Transport. The HS2 project is one of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK.

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HS2 was originally envisaged to operate more trains an hour and higher speeds than any comparable high-speed line elsewhere in the world. It has been estimated that this pushed up costs by about 10 per cent.

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