05.11.19
HS2 Oakervee review delayed until 2020
The deputy chair of the Oakervee Review, Lord Berkeley, has revealed that publication of the government’s independent review in HS2 is set to be delayed until after the general election.
A HS2 decision had previously been expected before the end of the year, but Berkeley claims he has been given no opportunity to look at the final HS2 report.
In January 2012, the Government announced its intention to go ahead with the development of a new national high speed rail network known as High Speed 2 or HS2.
It has been criticised previously by Berkeley for the cost of the project ad warned that the budgets were spiralling out of control.
Berkeley, who previously worked on the construction of the Channel Tunnel, said that the publication of the review has been shelved until after the results of the December general election and the appointment of a new secretary of state.
Tweeting at the weekend, he said:
"My role as dep chair of the Oakervee Report on HS2 finished yesterday. Report not finished and no opportunity to influence conclusions. We are told that, when completed by Doug O [Oakervee] and the DfT secretariat, it will be locked into the DfT vaults for the new S of S [secretary of state] to publish."
The Oakevee review is chaired by Douglas Oakervee, a retired engineer and previous chairman of Crossrail.