HS2 is still expected to terminate at London Euston rather than an outer borough of the capital, transport secretary Louise Haigh has indicated.
Rumours have swirled in recent years that the UK’s largest rail project since the Victorian era would only reach Old Oak Common in west London because of the high cost of building the remaining few miles to Euston.
The project has had a rocky few years since the previous Conservative government cancelled phase 2 of the railway from the West Midlands to Manchester.
Weeks after taking power, the new Labour government also announced the cancellation of a swathe of infrastructure projects, including road and rail. While nothing attached to HS2 was explicitly cancelled in that announcement, the final section of HS2 – which will bring the line into the Euston terminal – was understood to be under threat.
But speaking to the BBC, Haigh said: “We will be making an announcement on that soon. But it certainly would never have made sense to leave it between Old Oak Common and Birmingham.
“Even under the previous government’s chopped and changed and discredited plans for HS2, Euston was always going to be part of the solution.”
In January, the chief executive of HS2 Ltd admitted that costs the project had soared because of inflation, poor delivery, changes to the scope of the project and low initial cost estimates.
The industry body High Speed Rail Group (HSRG) has already warned the Treasury not to cancel the Euston section. It would only achieve “short-term savings on HS2 at the taxpayer’s expense in the medium to long term”, it said.
It estimates that by not extending into central London, the overall economic benefits of HS2 could be halved in the long run.
Dyan Perry, chair of HSRG, said: “Short-term decisions to cut investment into infrastructure would be deeply damaging to the UK, creating uncertainty and jeopardising investor confidence.
“Rail investment must be a priority as it achieves far more than simply addressing capacity issues; it drives economic growth, transforming prosperity and productivity across UK regions, creates jobs and upskills workers.”
Last month, the final section of Britain’s longest rail bridge was lowered into place near London as part of HS2.
