UK has spent £27 billion on HS2 rail project so far, not £100 billion
The post says says: “£100bn was spent on HS2, not even a quarter was built"
London (Reuters) - A widely shared social media post has falsely claimed the British government spent £100 billion ($127 billion) on its HS2 high-speed rail project.
The March 24 post, viewed more than 530,000 times on X and shared on Facebook, says: “£100bn was spent on HS2, not even a quarter was built, it didn't even pay for the train stations, only 140 miles of track.”
Construction of the HS2 is ongoing at the time of writing, and when completed will cover a 140-mile (225 kilometres) stretch between London and Birmingham, in the West Midlands.
This is a revision announced in late 2023 of the original plan, which had envisioned more stretches also connecting the West Midlands to northern England.
It is false, however, to claim £100 billion has been spent on the project, a spokesperson for HS2 Ltd, the company overseeing the project funded by the UK government’s Department for Transport (DfT), said in an email to Reuters.
Around £27 billion, based on 2019 prices, had been spent as of September 2023, the spokesperson said. “A long way short of £100bn,” they said.
The same figure was given in a bi-annual report submitted to Parliament, last published in November.
Online claims citing a £100 billion expenditure are likely to refer to independent estimates for costings, not actual spend, that were made in the years prior to the northern leg being scrapped in 2023.
The government also estimated in March 2021 that the full stretch from London to northern England could cost up to £98 billion.
Project costings also cover train stations and a fleet of high-speed trains, the HS2 Ltd spokesperson said, countering the social media claim.
