Louise Haigh announced on Sunday an independent investigation into how expenses have been allowed to ramp up “without sufficient explanation.”
The transport secretary and her ministers will now be in charge of the project “to ensure greater accountability,” and Mark Wild, the former CEO of Crossrail (now the Elizabeth Line), will become the new CEO of HS2 Ltd, the project management company, “to get a grip on costs.”
The Department for Transport (DfT) stated that the examination of HS2’s primary contractors may result in the renegotiating or amendment of certain contracts.
Following Labour’s purported restoration plans, Rishi Sunak canceled Phase Two of the project in October of last year, which would have connected Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds. Ms. Haigh ruled against doing so.
She has already alluded to the possibility that her government would expand the route from Old Oak Common station in the suburbs of west London to Euston in the heart of the city.
