High Speed 2 Railway Line: Railway Stations

(asked on 7th June 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government for what reasons the estimated cost of the West Midlands HS2 station has increased to £370 million.


Answered by
Baroness Vere of Norbiton Portrait
Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
This question was answered on 14th June 2021

The Interchange station cost estimate has not increased and remains within the allocated budget, as confirmed when the HS2 project was reset in February 2020 following conclusion of the Oakervee Review and the adoption of an updated cost baseline (Baseline 7.1).

At Baseline 7.1 adoption, the point estimate for Interchange station was £274m in Q3 2019 prices. This estimate excluded risk exposure and optional scope. The recently announced figure of £370m is the Baseline 7.1 estimate inflated to Q1 2022 prices (the date of Contract Award) with the addition of its contingency allowance, which is derived from the overall HS2 Ltd risk exposure allowance, also confirmed at Baseline 7.1 adoption. The £370m figure also contains provision for optional scope to maximise and facilitate local development plans around the station. This updated estimate does not affect the overall budget, or contingency, of the HS2 project and station delivery remains within its cost allocation and is proceeding to schedule.

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