Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the development of phase 1 of HS2.

As reported in the last HS2 report to Parliament published in November 2023, HS2 Ltd indicated that its projected cost to deliver Phase 1 would significantly exceed the current Funding Envelope of £44.6 billion (2019 prices). Following the significant scope changes and deferrals made under the previous government, the Department is working with HS2 Ltd to review the Estimate at Completion (EAC) for HS2 Phase 1 and will report to Parliament in due course.