In September 2024, engineers in Water Orton, England, closely monitored the progress of building the Bromford tunnel, a key part of the UK’s large HS2 railway project. Getty Images
Building new railways is not just an expensive endeavor; it's a complex one. Carving a new route through the landscape often costs millions of dollars per mile and can take decades to complete. When the project is in one of Europe's most densely populated countries, the costs and opposition increase even more dramatically.
Britain’s High Speed 2 (HS2) rail project is currently the world’s most expensive, with the first phase alone estimated to cost between $58.4 billion and $70 billion. This brings the cost per mile to an astonishing $416 million, a price tag that far exceeds the costs of other major rail projects globally. For context, the Tours-Bordeaux TGV line in France, built in the mid-2010s, cost around $32-$40 million per mile, but much of it ran through sparsely populated agricultural regions.
The soaring costs of HS2 make it a standout even among other high-speed rail projects. For example, the California High-Speed Rail project in the United States, often seen as troubled, is projected to cost $128 billion and could top $200 million per mile. In contrast, other European high-speed rail projects typically cost around $66.4 million per mile. China and Japan have managed to construct new high-speed railways through densely populated urban areas for significantly less, around $80 million per mile.
So, how did we get here? The challenges and costs of HS2 can largely be attributed to a combination of political interference, chronic short-term planning, and inadequate oversight. HS2 has been plagued by changes in leadership and policy, with five different CEOs and seven chairmen at the helm since its launch in 2012. Additionally, there have been six prime ministers, eight finance ministers, and nine transport ministers during a period of political upheaval in the UK. The project has been marked by poor project management, slow and bureaucratic planning, and a lack of integrated long-term policies for transport and industry.
HS2 was intended to create “northern powerhouses” by improving transport links and boosting economic growth across central and northern regions of England. However, there is widespread skepticism about whether the project will deliver these benefits. The project’s critics argue that HS2 is more likely to benefit London than the northern cities it was supposed to connect. A social justice think tank, New Economics Foundation, published an analysis in 2019 suggesting that the HS2 line would deepen the regional divide and that investments should be directed across the entire rail network instead of prioritizing the high-speed line.
The costs associated with HS2 have also driven fierce opposition from environmentalists and communities along the route. Critics argue that even with its original price tag, the line would offer only marginally faster travel, and the construction has had significant environmental impacts. Protests have occurred against the felling of ancient woodlands and other environmental impacts, with wealthy retirees and radical environmentalists joining forces to try and halt the project. The initial scope of HS2 has been significantly reduced, with planned extensions to Manchester and Leeds scrapped and the central London terminus now facing uncertainty.
While there are significant environmental and social challenges to HS2, there is also some optimism about the engineering achievements that the project promises. The railway will include impressive structures like the Colne Valley Viaduct and modern stations designed as transport cathedrals. The construction work includes deploying massive machines to bore tunnels and efforts to mitigate environmental impacts, such as planting millions of new trees and funding community projects.
The rising costs and opposition have put increasing pressure on the UK government to find savings and reassess the future of the project. The new Labour government, elected in July 2024, has expressed interest in investing in infrastructure and completing the tunnels under London, but the future of HS2 remains uncertain.
