The cost of building HS2 between London and Birmingham has soared to £66.6bn, the Transport Select Committee has been told.
In 2009, the ailing high-speed rail network was originally estimated to cost £20bn for the entire network, which was to include much-needed link-ups with Leeds and Manchester. However, while in Manchester for the Conservative Party Conference in 2023, prime minister Rishi Sunak announced he was scrapping much of the network despite significant investment having already been made.
HS2 Ltd boss Sir Jon Thompson has now revealed to MPs that the estimated cost has skyrocketed way higher than originally thought. He asked MPs to adjust for current prices, which will involve adding “somewhere between eight and £10 billion” onto the existing price tag of “somewhere between £49bn and £56.6bn”. What’s a couple of billion extra anyway?
Well, there are quite a few things the government could splash £66.6bn on – here’s how that money could be spent better.
Updating the insulation in draughty homes for the next 11 years
Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan (GPP) has pledged to allocate £6bn a year for a home insulation programme to improve energy efficiency. As it stands, 57% of low to middle-income households live in homes with an EPC rating of ‘D’ or below – meaning their homes are draughty, cold buildings.
The estimated cost of HS2 could upgrade homes for 11 years, with a cool £600m as spare change.