HS2 to cost more than Nasa's Artemis Moon mission as price continues to spiral

HS2 is set to cost more than Nasa's Artemis mission as its budget continues to spiral.

The high-speed rail line was initially scheduled to open this year, extending beyond Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds, with a budget of £37.5billion.

But the reduced route is now unlikely to hit its target of 2033 and is set to cost in excess of £100billion.

That figure is more than Nasa's £79billion budget for the Artemis missions, exceeding costs for the planned Artemis IV expedition, expected to land astronauts on the moon.

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Now, the Government has asked railway bosses to reduce the speed of trains running on the line in an attempt to lower costs.

Trains were expected to hit speeds of 360 kph (233mph), but now Labour has asked chief executive Mark Wild to examine whether reducing the speed to 320kph (200mph) could save money.

Sir Stephen Lovegrove, the former national security adviser, is expected to say that "gold plating" - including a focus on achieving the "highest possible speed" for the railway, had resulted in the infrastructure project's delays and ballooning budget.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander will set out a timetable and new costs for HS2.

The original target of 360kph would have made HS2 the fastest trainline in the world.

Sir Stephen is expected to name the high speed among the "original sins of the scheme", including "the original 'gold plating' of the high-speed concept, with a focus on the highest possible speeds, resulting in bespoke and highly engineered design".

"Changing objectives and political priorities," will blamed, along with the level of costs and risk being "very badly underestimated".

He will also name the decision to "begin construction at the hardest points" along the route, between the London and the Midlands.

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The high speed rail line was initially announced in 2012, under the Coalition Government, with plans for a Y-shaped line to connect to Manchester and Leeds.

HS2 Ltd, the company responsible for the new lines, has blamed the ballooning cost of complications stemming from planning permission and environmental concerns.

In Buckinghamshire, the "gold-plated" mentality and environmental concerns resulted in a £100million bat tunnel being built.

HS2 Ltd said the 1 kilometre tunnel - which will cost almost £340,000 per bat - was necessary to mitigate potential harm to a population of Bechstein's bat found in the Bernwood Forest area.

Natural England, the independent body which advises the Government on protecting wildlife was blamed, but it argued it does not get involved in the design of infrastructure and merely provided advice.

At least £3.7billion of public money had been spent on compulsory purchase orders, including 1,000 properties bought up for Phase 2 of the line between Manchester and Leeds.

Whitmore Heath, Staffordshire, has been reduced to a "ghost village" due to the number of vacant properties purchased by HS2.

A Government source said: "The Lovegrove Report further confirms the astonishing extent to which previous Conservative governments had totally lost control of HS2, frittering billions of taxpayer’ money away and leaving the project no closer to being finished than when it started.

"It has been a sorry mess, but this Government has done the hard yards to pull the project out of the dirt and deliver the better connections that have long been promised to the midlands.

"Britain has the talent and capability to build big infrastructure projects. The Transport Secretary will harness that as she turns the project around."

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