LICHFIELD’S MP says confirmation that HS2 could cost up to £102billion will be a “bitter pill to swallow” for local communities blighted by the project.
The Government has set out new timeframes for delivery – and revealed that trains may not run as fast as previously anticipated, with services now expected to travel at 200mph rather than 225mph when the line finally opens.
The move is designed to save money as it was confirmed HS2 could now cost between £87.7billion and £102.7billion.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said the announcements would bring an end to an “era of neglect” around the high speed rail project.
Lichfield’s Labour MP Dave Robertson said a reset of HS2 was needed:
“The announcement will be a bitter pill to swallow for so many people in our part of Staffordshire.
“The scale of failings over more than a decade and a half are staggering. The ballooning budgets and over runs that have become so commonplace under previous governments should never have been allowed to happen.
“The reset announced has to be the day when the page gets turned on the mismanagement of the past and people get certainty about when the project will finally be finished.
“But the company must also make sure that it does more to support communities like mine who have had to deal with the fallout from the project for so long – and will have to for a long time yet.”
The Government now expects HS2 services to start between 2036 and 2039.
But despite ongoing works in and around Lichfield, trains are not expected to link with the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre until some point between 2040 and 2043.
The Transport Secretary said:
“Taxpayers, passengers and communities along the route have been let down by years of mismanagement on HS2.
“I share their anger about the waste and mess, but I am proud that this Government has worked with HS2’s new senior team to get this project off life support and on the road to recovery.
“We will get the job done but we will also take every opportunity to save time and money in the process, getting a grip on delivery, controlling costs and stripping out the complexity that’s plagued the project in the past.
“We can and must build big infrastructure projects in Britain. But we also need competent people in charge of them.”
