UK’s high-speed rail faces new delays, deemed ‘appalling mess’

[LONDON] Britain’s transport secretary on Wednesday announced further delays to the country’s new high-speed HS2 train line, describing the project as an “appalling mess” amid soaring costs.

The high-speed rail track between London and Birmingham will no longer be delivered by the planned 2033 target, despite the project already being scaled back due to repeated delays and spiralling costs.

“Billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted by constant scope changes, ineffective contracts and bad management,” Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told parliament.

She pledged “we will sort it out,” without specifying an updated timeline.

Britain’s Labour party, which came to power in July, has pinned its hopes on big spending on infrastructure to boost sluggish economic growth.

High Speed 2 would be Britain’s second such fast track, after the line that carries Eurostar trains from London to the Channel Tunnel and onwards to France.

But HS2 has been mired in controversy since the previous Conservative government axed key legs of the railway because of spiralling costs.

The project’s estimated costs have almost tripled to more than £100 billion (S$173.6 billion) from £37.5 billion in 2013, making it one of the world’s most expensive lines.

Originally planned to link London with Britain’s second biggest city Birmingham in the English Midlands and then travelling further north to Manchester and Leeds, HS2 is aimed at shortening journey times and taking capacity off existing busy routes.

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It was initially planned to open in 2026, but was pushed back to between 2029 and 2033, before the latest delay. AFP