HS2 bosses have been asked to begin delivering Labour’s £45bn rail plans for the North despite repeated criticism over their performance, The i Paper can reveal.
HS2 Ltd, the government-owned company in charge of finishing the London to Birmingham high-speed line, will also be tasked with crucial work ahead of the construction of a new rail link between Liverpool and Manchester.
The i Paper understands a team of around 32 staff will work on Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), including the development of planning consents, engineering and environmental analysis, and management of land and property.
Rachel Reeves unveiled Labour’s vision for NPR last week, promising that her Government would avoid repeating “past mistakes where major projects like HS2 have gone significantly over budget”.
NPR will be built in phases, with the first involving improvements to lines and stations in Yorkshire. Construction of a new high-speed line between Manchester and Liverpool will begin after that.
However, a document published quietly by the Government reveals: “The next phase of development work on the Liverpool to Manchester section will be conducted through HS2 Ltd.”
It adds: “Whilst there is a future decision to come about responsibility for actual construction, we judge there is sufficient time before construction would start to either ensure adequate capacity at one of the department’s existing delivery bodies or to create a new one.”
Alternative would ‘cost more taxpayer funding’
The Gvernment told The i Paper the decision was made because HS2 Ltd was already involved in developing railway infrastructure between Cheshire and Manchester as part of the original plans for HS2 Phase Two, which was axed by Rishi Sunak in 2023.
The Department for Transport said finding an alternative developer would have “cost more taxpayer funding” and that “lessons from HS2 are also going to be at the forefront of plans as we deliver NPR”.
Rachel Reeves launched the new NPR plans at an event in Leeds last week (Source: Danny Lawson/PA)A spokesperson added: “This measure ensures the best value for money in the immediate future while long-term options are decided.”
The Government also promised it would maintain “strong oversight” of HS2 Ltd’s work on NPR to ensure “clear accountability” and “strict cost controls”.
Critics, however, have expressed concern that HS2 Ltd, which has been blamed in large part for the ballooning budget and delays suffered on the country’s flagship railway project, is being allowed to take on more government work.
HS2 Ltd and the Department for Transport are yet to agree on a final cost for the London-Birmingham line, with some experts predicting it will be more than £100bn.
The original version of HS2 including spurs to Manchester and Leeds was supposed to cost £32.7bn.
In December 2024, chief executive Mark Wild was brought in to carry out a “reset” of Phase One of HS2, which was originally meant to open this year but still has no date for completion, with a revised 2033 target deemed unachievable.
‘HS2 Ltd should not be anywhere near another rail project’
Callum McGoldrick, investigations manager at the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told The i Paper: “Handing HS2 Ltd the keys to Northern Powerhouse Rail is like asking the captain of the Titanic to steer the rescue boat.
“HS2 Ltd should not be anywhere near another rail project, especially as not even Phase One of their original project is complete.
“After years of eye-watering waste, missed deadlines, and broken promises, taxpayers will find the Government’s talk of strong oversight impossible to swallow.
“If the DfT were serious about cost controls, they wouldn’t be doubling down on a body that has become a national watchword for failure.”
The i Paper understands that landowners in the area between Cheshire and Manchester were contacted by HS2 Ltd last week to confirm that the “petitioning” process – which offers them the chance to comment on plans for a new line and ask for changes – will resume, two-and-a-half years after they were told the process had ended.
HS2 staff will be responsible for developing planning consents, engineering and environmental analysis on the NPR routeThis included the Tatton Estate, the largest private landowner in Cheshire East, which will be impacted significantly by the renewed plans for NPR. A spokesperson said the estate had already spent “significant sums” on professional fees dealing with HS2 Ltd and no compensation was offered when the northern leg was axed overnight in 2023.
“Dealing with HS2 Ltd previously was difficult because of high staff turnover, lack of appreciation of business needs and lack of authority to agree things,” they added.
“We are concerned that HS2 Ltd historically did not have openness to meaningfully engage with local businesses and communities to optimise the opportunity to make HS2 a success.”
In a report published last year, MPs on the Public Accounts Committee said HS2 had become “a casebook example of how not to run a major project”.
They blamed the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd for “repeated failures” which have caused delays and increasing costs. These included agreeing to “unacceptable” construction contracts, and building a £100m “bat tunnel” due to environment concerns, as revealed by The i Paper.
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The project has also been plagued by claims of mismanagement that have been made by whistleblowers.
The i Paper revealed last year that HS2 Ltd was overseeing an internal investigation into allegations of tax fraud which resulted in a sub-contractor being sacked from working on one section of the railway.
The Institute for Civil Engineers (ICE) also singled out the role of HS2 Ltd as a major cause in what has gone wrong with the project in a briefing paper titled The cancellation of HS2’s northern leg – learning lessons.
ICE said HS2 had suffered too much personnel change and “it became unclear who was making decisions, how they were made and when, and whether those decision-makers had all the information required to make informed decisions”.
The Oakervee Review of 2020 also highlighted concerns about the performance of HS2 Ltd and said the organisation should not be given responsibility for developing a new station at Euston.
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