Mark Wild: HS2 ‘very close’ to completing reset plan
A year of restructuring and tighter cost controls has put Britain’s flagship high-speed rail project back on a steadier path, according to an update from the scheme’s chief executive.
But while HS2 edges closer to delivery, passengers will still have to wait years before high-speed trains reach Birmingham, despite plans to ‘reset’ the project nearing completion.
A date for the long-awaited opening of the new HS2 railway between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street is still eluding the scheme, with the company still finalising what it says is a “new range of credible cost and schedule estimates” before it reports back to government later this year.
Ambitious timescales mapped-out when the project was launched in 2010 would have seen the first high-speed trains rolling into Birmingham this year – but following a number of costly delays and despite the scrapping of large parts of the line, even a revised opening date of 2033 now looks almost certain be missed.
But some light may now be appearing at the end of a long, dark tunnel for the beleaguered project, according to chief executive Mark Wild, who marked 12 months in the job in December.
In an update issued this month, he said the project is now close to getting back on course following a year-long reset programme designed to get construction works back into sequence.
A rejig of the scheme announced earlier this year saw staffing cuts of around 300 roles, intended to make the company a “less bureaucratic, outcome-focused organisation”, with new cost controls also introduced to scrutinise contractor payments on the scheme, which is now estimated to cost over £80bn once completed.
A programme of updated costs and timescales is expected to be delivered to the government shortly.
HS2 chief executive Mark Wild says a planned reset of the project is nearing completion. Credit: HS2
“Over the last year we’ve been through the programme with a fine tooth comb and we’re now very close to establishing a clear path forward,” said Wild.
“However, we’ve 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.
“The solid progress they’ve made in the last year gives us strong foundations to build upon. We’ve 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.”
New figures released by HS2 show all 23 miles of deep-bore tunnels have now been dug out on the opening section of the railway between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street, with around 70% of the project’s vast earthworks programme also completed.
In December last year, the company announced it would be suspending work on several large infrastructure projects in order to concentrate on a 50-mile section of track between the main HS2 depot at Washwood Heath in Birmingham and Wendover Green Tunnel, where the first phase of operational testing on the new line will take place.
