EXCLUSIVE: Britain’s flagship high-speed rail line has gone “disastrously wrong” because of the decision to “gold plate” the project and political pressure to “keep things moving” despite spiralling costs, an official review has found Sir Stephen Lovegrove, a former national security adviser, said that the “original sins” of the project included a decision to focus on the “highest possible speeds” in an attempt to make it the “world’s best railway” The government opted to “begin construction at the hardest points of the route”, the first phase between London and the West Midlands He concluded that there was also particular confusion over “the changing objectives and political priorities”, with a conflict between the “mission” of ushering in a “new age of high speed rail” and the task of delivering “within time and budget” On Tuesday Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, is expected to confirm that the speed for the line will be reduced to 320km/h to reduce costs, while delivery of the project will be further delayed from previous plans to get trains running by 2033 The first trains between London and Birmingham are expected to run from 2035 at the earliest HS2 was originally designed to run between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds It will now run only as far north as Birmingham on new tracks, at which point HS2 trains will connect to the West Coast Main Line. Latest estimates suggest that this line alone could cost as much as £100 billion, the equivalent of £1 billion a mile thetimes.com/article/2940e8…
