LONDON — Britain’s transport secretary this week ordered HS2 Ltd. to hunt for ways to cut costs and reduce delays on the high-speed rail project, including reconsidering design choices that could add complexity and push back the day passengers actually ride the line.
On Monday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she has tasked HS2 Ltd. CEO Mark Wild with exploring options that could save “billions” and bring the railway into service sooner. The work is part of what the government is calling a reset after years of cost overruns and schedule slippage.
A central focus is the top speed HS2 was originally designed around. The line was commissioned for 360 km/h, which would have made it the fastest conventional high-speed service in the world, but the Department for Transport noted no railway in the U.K. or elsewhere is currently engineered for that speed.
That matters because it would force HS2 to wait until its own track is built before conducting certain train tests — a sequence the government argues could inflate costs and delay completion. Alexander’s department said HS2 is now being asked to consider alternatives more aligned with existing, proven high-speed systems, such as HS1 in the U.K. and networks in Japan and France that typically operate around 300 to 320 km/h.
The government said a lower design speed would have a negligible impact on projected journey times while potentially accelerating delivery.
Wild is expected to report back to Alexander in the summer with options and a progress update, and the government promises revised cost and schedule estimates that it says will be more “robust.”
HS2 Ltd. said it currently supports about 30,000 workers and thousands of U.K. businesses. The government also pointed to recent construction milestones it said were delivered ahead of schedule, including completion of excavation for the Bromford Tunnel in the West Midlands and progress on tunneling linked to Old Oak Common in West London.
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