HS2: true cost of London-Birmingham line is more like £66bn, boss admits

The HS2 construction site at Curzon Street, Birmingham. Photograph: Carl Recine/Reuters

The estimated cost of the HS2 line from London to Birmingham has ballooned to as much as £66bn, the scheme’s executive chair has told MPs.

Jon Thompson told the transport select committee on Wednesday that the current estimate for the first phase of the line could add “between £8bn and £10bn” to the current top-end estimate of £56.6bn.