High Speed 2 services are now anticipated to start in 2036 at the earliest, with 2039 apparently looking more likely
A visualisation of Birmingham’s HS2 Curzon Street Station at night(Image: HS2)
Work on a Birmingham HS2 station could be delayed while another might ‘lay idle’ for ten years as the full project may not finish until as late as 2039, it has been suggested.
Construction of the Interchange station in Solihull, where work is scheduled to commence in 2026, could be delayed as part of the setbacks, RAIL reports.
It comes as it was revealed the HS2 services are not anticipated to start until 2036 at the earliest, with 2039 apparently looking more likely according to preliminary reports.
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The new suggested timeframe has also prompted fears Curzon Street station in the city centre could “sit idle for ten years” or even more once it’s finished.
The under-construction Curzon Street station is set to undergo an internal fit towards the end of this year, finishing at the end of 2028.
Operational testing is set to take place at the city station between 2026 and 2028 – over a decade before the latest estimated completion date.
HS2 Curzon Street station in Birmingham(Image: andrewhendry.com)
News of the delayed date came as the estimated final cost was said to be over £100bn for the project.
The completion dates are the early assessments of HS2 Ltd CEO Mark Wild in a preliminary report to ministers.
They came shortly shortly after he took up the role last year, as reported by RAIL magazine, following Freedom of Information requests.
Wild also confirmed he was undertaking a “fundamental reset” on the HS2 project to fully ascertain the current financial situation at the end of 2024.
A visualisation of the proposed revised design for Curzon Street Station, the HS2 station in Birmingham. .(Image: HS2)
Department for Transport (DfT) permanent secretary Bernadette Kelly admitted at the time that the reset is “extremely complex” and would “take some time” as the parties involved had not yet agreed a cost estimation methodology.
Earlier this year Wild confirmed that it would likely take the rest of 2025 to complete the reset and present a full picture of the current HS2 progress.
He also said he would not commit to HS2 services starting in the official timeframe of 2029 to 2033, but this latest news suggests that it could be some years behind schedule.
It’s understood the estimated final cost of HS2 will be £81bn in 2019 prices, equating to £100bn in today’s prices, accounting for inflation.
The DfT is now waiting for Wild’s full report in order to take decisions on the best way to take the project to completion.