HS2

Higgins appointed as chair of Gatwick Airport

Sir David Higgins, the chair of HS2, has also been appointed as part-time chair of Gatwick Airport.

Sir David will officially take over the role from New Year’s Day, replacing the current chair, Sir Roy McNulty, who will stay on as deputy chair.

He will contribute 20-30 days a year to his post at Gatwick, while continuing to work at HS2 for three days a week.

Sir David left his post as chief executive of Network Rail to become chair of HS2 in 2014.

His additional appointment comes at a transitional time for the high-speed rail project. The HS2 Bill is currently passing through the House of Lords, and the phase 2 route has now been announced.

However, Simon Kirby resigned in September, leaving HS2 without a permanent chief executive. Meg Hillier MP, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, warned that Kirby’s resignation “adds to the uncertainty enveloping a project on which strong and stable leadership is vital”.

Sir Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, has been conducting a review this year to try to keep the project within its £55bn budget, and the opening of phase 1 could be postponed from 2026 to 2027.

Speaking to the Transport Select Committee on Monday, Sir David said that HS2 could be completed by 2030 if “cash constraints” were removed. He also suggested offering a bonus to incentivise Kirby’s replacement to stay with the project.

Welcoming his new appointment, Sir David said that Gatwick had made “remarkable” progress under Sir Roy’s leadership and there was a “very strong” case for expansion of the airport in the future.

HS2 confirmed that Sir David would remain at the company and that building work on the high-speed line is due to begin in spring 2017.

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