The Minister of State for Rail at the Department for Transport, Lord Peter Hendy, has told BBC Radio 4’s Derailed: The Story of HS2 that the government is still considering the future of the previously cancelled routes to Manchester and Leeds.
During the interview with presenter Kate Lamble, Lord Hendy speaks about the ‘mess’ that has been inherited: “There’s no doubt about it… but what we have resolved to do is to sort it out.” Lord Hendy confirms that the future of the land that is still being held by HS2 remains undecided and says it is under consultation.
He goes on to explain “The planning that went into HS2 was over a long number of years, and to… stop it without any thought of what you would do instead has caused us to have to think very clearly and do a load of work. So I can’t pre-empt that, and in any case, our first job is to fix the project we’ve got now.”
Lord Hendy is waiting for up to date estimates from HS2 CEO, Mark Wild, following reports that the latest estimate for building HS2 between Birmingham and Old Oak Common in London is £81bn. Accounting for inflation, that would mean at least £100bn will be spent, but only 135 miles of railway built.
Speaking about the figures, Lord Hendy says “I haven’t seen numbers like that, except in the media. People are fond of quoting numbers in the media.”
HS2 Ltd responded “This cycle of cost increases and delays must be broken and we have a comprehensive plan to reset the programme – ensuring the mistakes of the last five years aren’t repeated.”
Elsewhere in the ten-part series, Kate Lamble hears from the people closest to the big decisions and the big impacts, from villages along the line to the levers of power inside HS2 and even Downing Street itself. Contributors across the series include Boris Johnson, who recalls how despite HS2 scepticism from various advisers, he “always knew that it was going to be the right thing to do”.
Discussing the need for improving infrastructure, Mr Johnson says “it’s a disgrace that since the middle of the 19th century London has been developing and has got better and better and the North East, North West and the Midlands haven’t had the same effect. And HS2 was clearly going to be part of it. I could see the cost problems but great infrastructure projects depend on politicians having the will, political will to keep going because these are investments in the future.”
Sir Douglas Oakervee, a former chair of HS2, was appointed by Boris Johnson to carry out the independent review. Boris Johnson says ‘[Doug] was also very reliable and brilliant transport engineer. I knew I could rely on Doug to come up with an answer that I would be happy with. If he thought it was really a dud he would have told me.”
The series also includes insight from figures including Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, former HS2 chairman Brian Briscoe, former HS2 chair Allan Cook and former transport adviser Andrew Gilligan as well as HS2 insiders Andrew Bruce and Doug Thornton. Derailed: The HS2 Story follows the twists and turns of the project’s tortured path, and explores the reality of a struggle to build a better future.
Understand, Derailed: The Story of HS2 is available as a full boxset on BBC Sounds from Monday 14th July and on BBC Radio 4 daily at 1.45pm.
