Tory ministers are to blame for spiralling HS2 costs, says ex-rail boss

The former chairman of HS2 has fired back at Rishi Sunak’s government by blaming “short-sighted” Tory ministers for the high-speed rail project’s spiralling costs.

The Independent first revealed the PM was in secret ‘Project Redwood’ talks with chancellor Jeremy Hunt to axe the project’s northern leg from Birmingham to Manchester.

Despite the backlash, Mr Sunak is thought to be keen to cut costs – with sources close to the PM claiming that HS2 executives have acted like “kids with the golden credit card”.

Ex-HS2 chairman Allan Cook – who ran the project between 2018 and 2021 – has now accused the government of trying to duck responsibility.

The rail industry chief said government officials agreed “every penny spent”, and claimed it would be a “scandalous waste of money” if Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt were to end the line at Birmingham.

“Representatives from the Treasury and transport department sat on the HS2 board during my time as chairman,” Mr Cook told the Mail. Asked about the idea executives acted “kids with the golden credit card”, he said: “Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Mr Cook insisted: “There was total transparency of every decision and every penny spent. HS2 had monthly meetings with ministers and officials from No 10, the Treasury and Department for Transport.”

Blaming Tory ministers for delays and lack of clarity, the ex-chairman added: “Perhaps my biggest frustration is the constant short-sighted approach to large infrastructure programmes.”

“Uncertainty is the enemy of big projects. It drives up costs and slows down progress. The most scandalous waste of money would be to end the line at Birmingham, incurring all of the costs and delivering very little real benefit.”

The war of words comes as Mr Sunak repeatedly ducked questions on the future of HS2 during in a series of excruciating interviews – blaming Covid for the failing railways.

The PM told BBC radio that the pandemic caused everyone to “stop travelling on the rail network”, which has made running train services “very difficult”.

The PM said there were “spades in the ground” on phase one of the project, but refused to say whether he was committed to phase two, which The Independent revealed Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt are considering scrapping to save cash.

Mr Sunak is understood to be considering an option to quell a Tory backlash by kicking the Birmingham to Manchester route into the long grass by delayed it by up to seven years.

There have been indications he could announce a string of regional transport improvements in an effort to limit the political fallout – including bringing forward Northern Powerhouse Rail between Manchester and Leeds.

Senior red wall Tories in the influential Northern Research Group have signalled they are willing to accept a delay to the northern leg of HS2 – so long as the PM commits to east-west rail projects known as Northern Powerhouse Rail.

Labour mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has suggested he could be open to a delay – if the government commits to east-west routes and builds a section of HS2 between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly.