Expected high speed rail bill soars by £10bn

The bill for the controversial high speed rail line has soared by an eye-watering £10 billion.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin made the admission that the original budget of £33 billion has rocketed to £42.6 billion.

The controversial HS2 project linking the Midlands with London, Manchester and Leeds has moved a step closer after the first of two controversial Bills reached the House of Commons.

MPs opposed to the scheme attempted to block legislation allowing the Government to spend money carrying out preparatory work on the line, which is known as High Speed Two or HS2.

Geoffrey Robinson (Lab Coventry North West), Bill Cash (Con Stone), Jim Cunningham (Lab Coventry South) and Jeremy Lefroy (Con Stafford) were among MPs backing an amendment demanding that the project be delayed.

The second piece of legislation, a “hybrid” Bill which authorises the actual construction of the line, is likely to spark even more opposition when it reached the House of Commons.

The line is set to link London to Birmingham by 2026. Two second-phase branches to Manchester and Leeds, via Sheffield, are planned by 2032. The first phase is now budgeted at £21.4 billion and the second phase at £21.2 billion, and includes a £14.4 billion contingency fund.

Mr McLoughlin said: “I will be writing tomorrow to the chairman of HS2 to set a target price for the delivery of phase of the project.

"That is £17 billion at 2011 prices. This takes account of the design and environmental changes to improve the scheme. While I expect the final costs to be lower than those I have just outlined. This is the right way to plan the project.”

Labour MP Roger Godsiff (Birmingham, Hall Green), the only Birmingham MP to oppose the scheme, said reports, including one from the National Audit Office, had suggested HS2 is already “spiralling out of control” and figures from last year no longer stack up.

Mr Godsiff said no businesses in Birmingham had told him they would suffer without quicker train trips to London.

He told MPs: “The idea at this moment in time of austerity that reducing travelling time by businessmen by 30 minutes from Birmingham to London is absolutely farcical.”