Under detailed plans ministers set out more than a decade ago, HS2 was to cost £32.7bn and trains would be running by next year. Now that money has already been spent, the planned network has been cut back to one line, no track has been laid and no train has been built.
On Wednesday, the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, announced that the London to Birmingham line would be delayed from the 2033 target, but did not set a new date. She called the project an “appalling mess” but vowed to “sort it out”.
