Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a full and independent engineering review has been carried out to assess the (1) construction, and (2) whole life costs, of the (a) Wendover Short Mined Tunnel proposal, and (b) current HS2 Phase One above surface route proposals at Wendover.
I refer to my answer to Lord Berkeley’s question on 30 June. In spring 2018, the Department instructed KPMG to undertake an independent review of the presented options for the Wendover area, both from HS2 Ltd (surface route) and from mbpc Ltd (mined tunnel proposal). The Department asked the review to examine and consider both options, including a comparative assessment of their relative cost, schedule and constructability. The review did not consider whole life costs.