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\n HS2 has confirmed that its aim to get trains running between Birmingham and London between 2029 and 2033 \u2018can not be achieved\u2019.\n <\/p>\n
Birmingham\u2019s Curzon Street Station is currently taking shape in the heart of the city but the divisive high-speed railway project has been plagued by serious challenges.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, HS2 CEO Mark Wild acknowledged that construction had been \u2018harder than thought\u2019 and \u2018needed a reset\u2019 involving a review of the project\u2019s cost and schedule.<\/p>\n
In an end of year update, HS2 insisted that significant progress had been made throughout 2025 with the project now at an \u201cadvanced stage of a comprehensive reset\u201d.<\/p>\n
But it went on to say that Mr Wild had \u201cprovided advice\u201d to the government confirming that the railway\u2019s 2029\/2033 opening schedule could not be achieved.<\/p>\n
\u201cHS2 Ltd has since been finalising a new range of credible cost and schedule estimates,\u201d a statement read.<\/p>\n
In this latest update, Mr Wild said he made a commitment to address \u201cthe failures of the past and get HS2 on track\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that we can only do so with a fundamental reset,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last year we\u2019ve been through the programme with a fine tooth comb and we\u2019re now very close to establishing a clear path forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we\u2019ve not stood still. We had to deliver a safe and productive year while HS2 was reset and I want to thank the 34,000 people working on the project every day for their tremendous hard work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe solid progress they\u2019ve made in the last year gives us strong foundations to build upon.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWe\u2019ve shown what can be done and I expect that to continue throughout 2026 and beyond as we deliver HS2 as safely and efficiently as possible and for the lowest reasonable cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
A number of changes have been made already as part of the reset, including \u2018toughening up\u2019 cost controls; strengthening the leadership team and reshaping HS2 into a \u2018less bureaucratic organisation\u2019.<\/p>\n
It has also established a new construction schedule to prioritise completing the initial phase of the railway between Old Oak Common in London and Birmingham.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) earlier this year about why a \u2018reset\u2019 was needed, Mr Wild said: \u201cThis is of a scale never done before \u2013 the last mainline terminus we built was 1899 in Marylebone.<\/p>\n
\u201cTruth is also the construction has been harder than we would have thought so we\u2019ve lost ground in construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo a combination of factors of getting a little bit behind and also the complexity to come means we need to reset the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good news is that this is all completely solvable and I\u2019m very, very confident,\u201d he went on to say. \u201cBut you get one chance to reset it to give people confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked at the time whether the aim was for trains to run between 2029 and 2033, Mr Wild responded: \u201cThere is fantastic work going on here, you just need to look at the amazing engineering work, the quality of the people, the commitment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re so far into the civil engineering now, it\u2019s time to reset \u2013 as frustrating as it is, that will take me the rest of this year to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cStanding here, I don\u2019t really have an answer \u2013 I\u2019m just going to do the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope people are patient \u2013 it\u2019s the only time we\u2019ll do it [a programme reset] from now until the end of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Peak production\u2019<\/p>\n
In its latest update, HS2 said it was at \u201cpeak production\u201d, with all 23 miles of deep-bore tunnels having now been excavated on the opening section of the railway between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cFigures show 70 percent of the project\u2019s vast earthworks programme has now been delivered,\u201d it continued. \u201cAlmost 300,000 tonnes of steel has been used \u2013 69 per cent of that required for the railway.<\/p>\n
\u201cHS2 is now focused on completing the complex civil engineering programme across the 140-mile route, ahead of the next vital stage when the track, signalling and communications systems are installed.\u201d<\/p>\n
HS2 also said it has increased the number of staff in front-line construction roles to help \u201cdrive productivity\u201d and that construction partners exceeded many targets set for them this year.<\/p>\n
It went on to say there were a number of construction achievements this year, including:<\/p>\n
The installation of the very first high-speed platforms at Old Oak Common superhub station.
A record first as engineers slid a huge 14,500-tonne box structure into position under the A46 Kenilworth Bypass.
Completion of the project\u2019s biggest natural river realignment, with a 749-metre section of the River Cole near Coleshill being realigned to make way for new viaducts and embankments.
Successful excavation of two twin-bore tunnels \u2013 the 8.4-mile Northolt Tunnel in London and the 3.5-mile Bromford Tunnel in the West Midlands
Completion of the 2.1-mile-long Colne Valley viaduct.
HS2 also said that back in June, the government\u2019s spending review confirmed funding of \u00a325.3bn to deliver HS2 between London Euston and the West Midlands over the next four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis provides greater certainty to the project\u2019s delivery, with a clear focus on completing all tunnels, viaducts, embankments and cuttings along the route of the railway,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HS2 has confirmed that its aim to get trains running between Birmingham and London between 2029 and 2033…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[22440,22441,855,9163,22439,748,9444,1354,393,9453,4884,14987,269,12,3669,9440,93,16823,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-671197","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-102-5","9":"tag-102-5-fm","10":"tag-birmingham","11":"tag-black-country","12":"tag-brierley-hill","13":"tag-britain","14":"tag-dab","15":"tag-dudley","16":"tag-england","17":"tag-fm","18":"tag-great-britain","19":"tag-halesowen","20":"tag-music","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-online","23":"tag-radio","24":"tag-sport","25":"tag-stourbridge","26":"tag-uk","27":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115831309620234861","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}