The HS2 high-speed rail line is a “loss-making” project, which will not be completed before 2041, a Conservative MP has told the Commons.
Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire Andrew Bridgen told Parliament that he had received information from a whistleblower within HS2 Ltd, which claims the first phase of the line, running between London and Birmingham, will not open until 2041, around 10 years later than planned.
He told MPs: “Experts in the field estimate that the energy requirements of HS2 trains will be five time that of conventional rail.”
He added: “Can we have an extended debate on the impact of HS2 on Government’s energy policy and the level of subsidy this loss-making project will have to be supported with annually if it is ever built?
“Could we have this debate before 2041, which is the date that my whistleblower at the very top of HS2 tells me the project for phase one will actually be able to carry passengers between London and Birmingham?”
Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed Mr Bridgen’s claims, saying: “I thought whistleblowing was more steam engine than fast high-speed trains but never mind.
“Obviously, the energy to run a train that is 440 yards long, that is two furlongs long, extraordinary length of train, at 225 miles an hour is more than running Ivor the Engine.
“And that is of course something that has to be built into the overall energy plans of this country.
“But the cost of energy to operate the HS2 network has been accounted for within the overall business case of the project and this energy will be procured in the open market at the right time to start operations and achieve value for money for the taxpayer.”
He insisted Mr Bridgen’s figures were wrong, adding: “The delivery and service of HS2 phase one remains 2029-2033, so I am interested in his whistle blower and I will of course pass the whistle onto the Secretary of State for Transport.”
Speaking at the Westminster Hall debate on Monday, the North West Leicestershire MP also claimed HS2 will cost £160 billion to build in full, £50 billion more than previous estimates.
In an intervention to Labour’s shadow minister for railways Tan Dhesi’s speech, Mr Bridgen, who had not been chosen to speak himself, said: “I wonder whether he received the 85 megabytes of documentation from whistleblowers within HS2 and the Department for Transport, which indicated that phase one is now unlikely to be open for passengers before 2041 and that the whole project is going to be £160 billion in today’s money.
“Phase one is already £70 billion, and the enabling works are running massively over budget.
“They are being suppressed, and that is going to be thrown into the main budget at the end.”
Phase one of HS2, which will see a new high speed railway line constructed from London to the West Midlands was due to open in 2026, but in an update to Parliament in 2019 Transport Minister Grant Shapps said the opening date would be pushed back to between 2028 and 2031.