Ministers knew about HS2 cost overruns earlier than they admitted

The BBC reports that the government and HS2 knew years ago that the new high speed railway was over budget and was probably behind schedule.

In total, the railway was supposed to cost £55.7bn. Earlier this month, the government said it planned to review the costs and benefits of the rail project, with a "go or no-go" decision by the end of the year. But until recently, ministers and bosses at HS2 have insisted everything was on track. Only last month, the transport minister, Nusrat Ghani MP, who is now a government whip, told Parliament "confidently" that the programme would be delivered on budget and on time. "There is only one budget for HS2 and it is £55.7bn," she said. But the documents obtained by BBC News show that at least three years ago both the government and HS2 knew that wasn't the case. In May 2016, then chancellor George Osborne received a letter from Patrick McLoughlin, the transport secretary at the time, in which he admitted that the first stretch of the railway was already a billion pounds over budget.

If the Conservatives are true to form, judging by their treatment of GWR electrificaion, they will secretly cancel the part of the scheme which does not bring commuters into London, but leave it to the admnistration following the next general election to announce the fact.