Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest estimate of the (1) completion date, and (2) overall capital cost at 2023 prices, of (a) HS2 London to Birmingham, (b) the upgrades to TransPennine infrastructure, (c) East West Rail, and (d) Network North.

a) The Secretary of State has asked HS2 Ltd CEO, Mark Wild, to undertake an assessment of the current position on cost, schedule, capability and culture. While the Company is undergoing this reset, it will not be possible to state a meaningful Estimate at Completion. Work is continuing with HM Treasury and HS2 Ltd to reset the price base and report the costs of the programme in 2025 prices as part of the second phase of the Spending Review. The forecast date for initial HS2 services between Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common remains within the range of 2029 to 2033.

(b) The total Anticipated Final Cost of Transpennine Rail Upgrade is £10.4 - £11.2bn. Government has committed £6.9bn to date, equivalent to 60% of the anticipated final cost projection with an expected completion date of 2036–2041. So far, the programme has performed well and remains on schedule and within budget.

(c) £1.3bn has been provided towards the delivery of East West Rail Connection Stage 1 which will provide services from Oxford to Bletchley and Milton Keynes from 2025. The capital cost estimate for Connection Stages 2 (Oxford-Bedford) and 3 (Oxford-Cambridge) is £5bn-£6bn in 2021 prices. Connection Stage 2 will provide services from 2030, and Connection stage 3 will provide services from the mid-2030s.

(d) The previous Government made a series of funding promises in its Network North plan, the affordability of which my ministerial colleagues have had to re-examine. In December, the Chancellor launched the second stage of the Spending Review. This is a zero-based Spending Review, to ensure every line of spending – including the transport infrastructure portfolio – delivers the Plan for Change and provides good value for taxpayers. We expect the Spending Review to conclude by June 2025.