Oral Answers to Questions

Siân C. James Excerpts

Thursday 12th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Susan Elan Jones (Clwyd South) (Lab)]

1. What the current budget is for High Speed 2.

[Mrs Siân C. James (Swansea East) (Lab)]

5. What the current budget is for High Speed 2.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Patrick McLoughlin)]

The spending round of 2013 set a long-term budget for the delivery of HS2 of £42.6 billion. That is made up of £21.4 billion for phase 1 and £21.2 billion for phase 2. The budget includes significant contingency provision of £14.4 billion. That budget is being tightly monitored by the Government and we are confident that the railway will be delivered for less than that figure. I have set HS2 Ltd a “target price” for phase 1 of £17.1 billion.

[Mr McLoughlin]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady. We have a good record of delivering big projects on time. The Crossrail scheme, which is being built at the moment, involves more than £14 billion and is the largest construction project in Europe. It will greatly enhance transport in London; it is essential, but HS2 is essential for the rest of the country.

[Mrs Siân C. James]

The Secretary of State has outlined the significant budget of the HS2 project, but what assurances can the Government give me and the people of Swansea East that they will give full consideration to the proposals of the Howard Davies commission and the benefits of a future high-speed rail link between Cardiff and Heathrow airport?

[Mr McLoughlin]

I do not want to anticipate or prejudge what the Davies commission report will say. The commission is very important and its interim report is due by the end of the year. The hon. Lady makes a point about infrastructure and the rest of the railway network. It is essential that we carry on investing in rail services in other parts of the country and, over the next spending review, Network Rail plans to spend some £37.5 billion on the current railway network.