High-speed rail London–Birmingham delayed and over budget

The high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham will not be launched by 2033 as planned, according to UK Transport Minister Heidi Alexander. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The government aims to reduce costs, even at the expense of deadlines. The project will now proceed at a “minimally reasonable” price despite significant previous losses.

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High-speed rail slows due to finances and poor management

The minister accused the managing company of losing control over the budget and timeline. She also mentioned suspected supply fraud, stating that all cases would be promptly investigated.

“Billions of pounds have been wasted. Repeated changes in scope, opaque contracts, and weak oversight undermined the project,” Alexander said.

The high-speed rail section between London and Birmingham will now be the only part completed. All other stages were canceled in 2023–2024 by the Conservative government.

High-speed rail London–Birmingham remains the only segment

The original plan included extensions to Manchester and Leeds, but financial constraints ended those ambitions.

The line was initially expected to open in 2026, with trains running up to 330 km/h between the capital and Birmingham.

Later, the launch was pushed back to sometime between 2029 and 2033 due to logistics and construction delays.

By June 2024, the cost of just the first phase had ballooned to £66 billion (€77.3 billion), compared to £37.5 billion (€43.9 billion) projected for all phases back in 2013.

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