{"id":532188,"date":"2025-11-05T12:24:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=532188"},"modified":"2025-11-05T12:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T12:24:18","slug":"hs2-and-road-project-cancellations-cause-dft-2-7bn-in-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/civils\/hs2-and-road-project-cancellations-cause-dft-2-7bn-in-losses-05-11-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"HS2 and road project cancellations cause DfT \u00a32.7bn in losses"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department for Transport (DfT) has clocked up around \u00a32.7bn in losses over the past two years due to cancelled HS2 plans and scrapped road projects, a new report has revealed.<\/p>\n

A National Audit Office (NAO) report on DfT spending flagged that \u00a32.2bn was written-off from the previous government cancelling HS2\u2019s Birmingham to Manchester leg and revising plans for Euston.<\/p>\n

Road project cancellations have led to \u00a3534m in losses over the past two financial years, according to the spending watchdog\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

The write-offs include money spent designing and starting to deliver activity that has been abandoned, and the reduction in the value of assets, according to the NAO.<\/p>\n

In June the government announced plans for a reset to HS2 amid high-profile budget overruns and delays.<\/p>\n

As part of this, HS2 is renegotiating its four main construction contracts, with civils agreements being prioritised<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, the NAO warned in its report that \u201csuccessfully renegotiating\u201d the contracts will \u201cnot be straightforward\u201d.<\/p>\n

The watchdog said: \u201cHS2 Ltd has not been able to effectively manage or control activity through these contracts, which has led to significant cost increases.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of April this year, \u00a340.5bn had been spent on HS2 while the final cost could be up to \u00a398bn at 2019 prices. The government also warned this summer that the high-speed line\u2019s targeted opening date of 2033 will not be met.<\/p>\n

HS2 has also spent \u00a32.5m on exit packages after the scrapping of the phase two Birmingham to Manchester leg, the NAO found.<\/p>\n

However, the watchdog\u2019s report also showed that nearly \u00a32bn less was spent on HS2 last year than in the previous year. The DfT invested \u00a36.8bn on the project in the year to the end of March 2025, compared with \u00a38.5bn the previous year.<\/p>\n

The rail sector remained the department\u2019s biggest area of investment with a\u00a0 <\/span>total spend of \u00a327.6bn. This figure included \u00a317.9bn on Network Rail infrastructure, slightly down from the previous year\u2019s spend of \u00a318.2bn.<\/p>\n

The losses from cancelled road projects included \u00a362m related to scrapping new smart motorway projects, announced by the previous government in 2023. In the most recent financial year, \u00a3472m was written off, which included \u00a3224m in losses from cancelling plans for the \u00a31.7bn Stonehenge Tunnel.<\/p>\n

The DfT has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department for Transport (DfT) has clocked up around \u00a32.7bn in losses over the past two years due to cancelled HS2 plans and scrapped road projects, a new report has revealed. A National Audit Office (NAO) report on DfT spending flagged that \u00a32.2bn was written-off from the previous government cancelling HS2\u2019s Birmingham to Manchester leg …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29901,"featured_media":499152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,565,39314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-532188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civils","category-government","category-hs2"],"yoast_head":"\nHS2 and road project cancellations cause DfT \u00a32.7bn in losses | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Department for Transport (DfT) has clocked up around \u00a32.7bn in losses over the past two years due to cancelled HS2 plans and scrapped road projects, a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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