Boris Johnson ‘could scrap £100bn HS2 rail line’ later this year as he orders fresh review into spiralling costs

BORIS Johnson will decide this year whether to scrap the controversial High Speed 2 rail line – as he orders a fresh review today.

The PM said earlier this year he thought the costs could spiral to north of £100billion and he wanted a “short review” into whether it would be worth it.

Boris has ordered a fresh review into HS2

The route for the new high-speed rail line will go through his Uxbridge and South Ruislip constituency and infuriated locals are demanding it be ditched.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said this morning Boris would decide whether it would be “go or no” for the project by the end of 2019.

He told Sky News: “Let’s get the facts on the table – go and find all the information out there.
“Then we will know, we can make that decision, go or no go, by the end of the year.”

A review is expected to report back in late autumn – meaning any decision will be kicked into the long grass if there is an election on the way.

It will look into the full range of benefits of the new rail line – which will go through the PM’s Uxbridge constituency if it goes ahead – and how it will help connect the North and South of Britain.

It will review whether its costs are “realistic” and look at other similar schemes too for comparison.

And it will examine what the costs would be of “cancelling or de-scoping the project”.

Experts will look into how it links into one of his preferred railway updates – the Northern Powerhouse Rail too.

It was set to eventually link London up to Glasgow and Edinburgh, and there were plans for it go to Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle and Liverpool too.

The route aims to cut journey times and free up space on the line for more commuters and travellers. but critics have long blasted the huge costs.

During the Tory leadership race Boris said it was “responsible” to look again at the project, where costs are set to spiral beyond way beyond the £55billion predicted.

“It’s only responsible to have a short review without interrupting the time table,” he said.

But he added: “I’m going to hesitate for a long term before scrapping any major infrastructure project”.

Today the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Head of Transport, Dr Richard Wellings welcomed the report.

He said: ““HS2 was a flawed project from the start. The economic case for it never made much sense, which explains why the rationale for the rail project keeps changing.

“The review should also compare how the current HS2 budget could be spent in other ways. Lower taxes, less regulation, and investment in local transport would do far more to regenerate the North of England than a hugely expensive rail line.”

Last year it was estimated that £4billion has already been spent on the project – before work even begins.

But the British Chambers of Commerce head, Dr Adam Marshall, said that there was a “strong economic case” for delivering the project as planned.

“HS2 will provide much-needed capacity to Britain’s rail network and free up space for local and freight services on existing lines.  The delivery of other transformational schemes, including Northern Powerhouse Rail, rely on the connections that HS2 will make,” he said.