Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the projected cost per kilometre is of the London to Birmingham stretch of High Speed 2; and what the projected cost per kilometre is of noise barriers on that stretch.
The current estimated cost of Phase 1 of High Speed 2 (London to West Midlands) is £15.65 billion. A contingency provision of £5.75 billion has been set at P95 level. Based on these prices the cost per single track kilometre is £47.56 million for Phase 1, including £80, 000 per kilometre for noise barriers. These figures are in 2011 prices and at the P95 level, meaning that at this early stage there is a 95 percent confidence level that the project can be delivered for this cost.