The Guardian view on HS2 delays: a chance to break the cycle of costly failure | Editorial
By: Editorial | Published: 2025-06-18 18:03:00 | Source: www.theguardian.com
One day there will be a high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham. Maybe. Not soon. When HS2 was first proposed, an opening date for the first phase was planned for December 2026. After multiple delays and cost overruns, a revised target of 2033 was set.
That is no longer realistic, according to Heidi Alexander. The transport secretary told MPs on Wednesday that two more years are likely to be required, blaming the last Conservative government for mismanaging the whole project and wasting billions of pounds in the process.
The record is indeed dismal and, while HS2 was originally conceived in the last days of a Labour government, the systemic failure to bring it to fruition has happened under successive Tory prime ministers. Citing the findings of two new reviews into the…
