HS2: Top civil servant told to cut rail link costs
The UK's top civil servant has been called in to review the controversial HS2 rail link amid fears that it cannot be completed within its £55 billion budget.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood has allegedly been looking at the project and is expected to report on the situation by the summer as part of work led by the Government's newly-formed Infrastructure and Projects Authority.
It has been reported that a senior rail source said: "The review started about mid-March.
"There are things that can be cut, like engineering work north of Birmingham that becomes redundant when a link to Crewe is built in 2027. Heywood was concerned about the budget estimates and if they can cut any costs it will give them confidence of being within those estimates."
Campaigners opposed to the project believe any substantial cut in its budget could lead to lower compensation payouts for households in London, the Chilterns and the Midlands affected by construction work.
HS2 has been beset by rows since ministers announced the line between London and Birmingham.
As reported by the Express & Star last month, the stop HS2 campaign claimed that the high speed rail link would have to be delayed, something HS2 bosses denied.
This was followed the same month by Lord John Prescott saying that the UK would be counting the cost of HS2 for decades.
Joe Rukin, of Stop HS2, said: "We've already seen links to Heathrow and HS1 lopped off in a futile attempt to keep the cost of HS2 down, but it keeps spiralling out of control.
"The idea that government is looking to see what they can slice off to stop cost escalation is very disturbing to communities and environmentalists, as the very first thing to go will be the already inadequate proposed mitigations, and the only other thing they can do is reduce the already woeful access to compensation.
"But even if government did that, it would not stop the cost skyrocketing as this project is simply out of control."
A Government spokesman said: "As is normal for large projects, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority is conducting assurance of the HS2 programme as it proceeds into its delivery phase. It is standard practice for this to include a small cross government team."
A spokesman for HS2 added: "There are no delays to the programme and we remain on target to progress a further round of major contract invitations this summer."
