Committee publication · Correspondence · 15 April 2026
Letter from the Secretary of State for Transport relating to publication of HS2 Parliamentary Report, dated 23 March 2026
From: Transport Committee
Summary
The Secretary of State for Transport updates Parliament on HS2 progress to end-February 2026. The letter reports that new CEO Mark Wild's reset programme has revealed significant gaps in the project's original cost and schedule assessments. While delivery performance has recently improved with six construction milestones achieved ahead of schedule, the government is conducting a specification review to align HS2 with international high-speed rail standards and reduce costs.
Key findings
- HS2 Ltd lacked accurate assessment of delivered work and remaining scope; new CEO Mark Wild commissioned to reset programme and control cost increases and delays.
- Six construction milestones delivered ahead of schedule in past year; delivery performance improving over last six months.
- Government commissioned specification review to align HS2 with international high-speed rail standards and identify potential time and cost savings.
- New Chair Mike Brown appointed last summer has reshaped the Board with new skills and expertise; organisational restructuring underway to improve control and delivery.
- New cost and schedule estimates to be published once fully assured and approved, following engagement with main suppliers.
Tone
ProceduralTopics
transport-infrastructuremajor-projectspublic-accountability
Key actors
Heidi Alexander, Mark Wild, Ruth Cadbury, Mike Brown, HS2 Ltd
Notable line
“HS2 Ltd did not have an accurate assessment of how much work had been delivered, or of how much was left to do.”
Key Quotes
“I commissioned the new HS2 Ltd CEO, Mark Wild, with resetting the programme to bring an end to constant cost increases and delays and deliver the remainder of the programme safely and at the lowest reasonable cost.”
“Since then, the scale of the challenge has become even clearer. Mark Wild's work has shown that HS2 Ltd did not have an accurate assessment of how much work had been delivered, or of how much was left to do.”
“… delivery performance has started improving and the past six months have seen good progress in the delivery of HS2's civil engineering works.”
“It is clear that this review of specification and the wider reset are not going to undo the failures that have led to this point, but they will set a realistic and controlled path to completing the remaining work.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗