Transport Secretary tells LBC the decision on scrapping HS2 will be made next month
22 January 2020, 08:24
Grant Shapps revealed the government will make the decision on whether to press ahead with HS2 before the end of February.
Costs have spiralled on the high speed rail project, which started at £33billion and is now expected to top £106billion.
The Transport Secretary said he was making the biggest infrastructure decision taken in the UK in peacetime and promised it in "weeks rather than months".
Mr Shapps told LBC: "We are nearing the conclusion. I am now in the final stages of gathering all the data together for HS2, so it's a mega decision for this country.
"It's maybe the biggest infrastructure project, certainly in Europe, and the biggest this country's ever taken, certainly in peacetime. So we've got to get that right.
"The last piece of data is coming together and then I will make a decision, along with the Prime Minister. It is weeks rather than months."
With costs continuing to rise, Nick Ferrari asked Mr Shapps when the cost simply becomes too high.
He responded: "We will wait and see exactly what the figures are. But is there a price? Yes.
"In the end, what you have to do is say if we need capacity on our railways, are there other ways of providing that capacity? That is really the essential question here."
