- Building Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) risks repeating the failures of HS2 with “no convincing plan” to deliver it within a £45bn budget, an influential committee of MPs has warned.
- Plans to spend £45 billion on boosting rail connections across the North of England face the 'clear risk' of going over budget, MPs have warned.
- The House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee (PAC) say it is not confident the Department of Transport (DfT) has “learned all the lessons from past failures” such as HS2.
- Clive Betts, deputy chair of the PAC, warned that plans for North Powerhouse Rail featured 'echoes of the same mistakes... that HS2 made early on'.
- Concerns have been raised about the £45 billion funding cap, with the PAC noting that despite 12 years of planning, NPR 'remains at an early stage'.
- The spectre of HS2 hangs over Northern Powerhouse Rail, with troubling echoes of the same mistakes in loose governance that HS2 made early on.
- Both the Treasury and DfT have questions to answer about the project’s £45bn funding cap, as it is hard to see how the government arrived at this figure without a full scope or design.
- Mr Burnham, who is set to become the UK’s Prime Minister in less than three weeks, previously stated that the 'lack of high-quality rail infrastructure' in the north of England 'holds back its growth potential'.
MPs have expressed serious concerns regarding the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project, warning it risks repeating the costly failures of HS2. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) highlighted a ‘clear risk’ of exceeding the £45 billion budget due to inadequate planning and governance issues.
The PAC's report emphasized that despite 12 years of planning, NPR remains at an early stage, with doubts about the Department for Transport's (DfT) ability to deliver the full programme within the funding cap. Clive Betts, deputy chair of the PAC, noted troubling echoes of HS2's governance mistakes, stating, “The spectre of HS2 hangs over Northern Powerhouse Rail.”6
Concerns were raised about potential cost pressures from planning and biodiversity requirements, with the PAC warning that NPR may face “expensive measures” similar to HS2's costly bat tunnel. Betts criticized the decision to involve HS2 representatives in developing NPR, calling it a “casebook example of how not to run a major project.”
A DfT spokesperson defended NPR, asserting it will deliver the biggest investment in rail connectivity in a generation, but the PAC remains skeptical, questioning whether the lessons from HS2's ballooning costs have truly been learned. “We need to know how this figure was arrived at and how DfT will keep to it,” Betts added, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability.
“The Northern Powerhouse Rail project is under scrutiny as MPs express concerns it may repeat the costly failures of HS2. With a £45bn funding cap, there are doubts about the project's ability to stay within budget and deliver promised benefits.”
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