Government has yet to present a convincing case for the High Speed 2 rail project, an influential Parliamentary committee has argued.

The Public Accounts Select Committee published a report on Monday which examines the early programme preparation for High Speed 2. The report follows a Committee inquiry this summer when representatives from the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd were questioned.

Committee Chair Margaret Hodge said: “The Department for Transport has not demonstrated that this is the best way to spend £50Bn on rail investment in these constrained times.” She added that no evidence has been forthcoming that improved connectivity will promote growth in the regions.

“The pattern so far has been for costs to spiral and the estimated benefits to dwindle,” she said. “The Department has been making huge spending decisions on the basis of fragile numbers, out of date data and assumptions that business travellers do not work on trains using modern technology.”

The Department's timetable for preparing and passing the legislation needed to build and operate the line was described in the report as "unrealistic and overly ambitious” and much tighter than for either the previous high speed rail scheme through Kent or Crossrail.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “The case for HS2 is absolutely clear: without it the key rail routes connecting London, the Midlands and the North will be overwhelmed. The project will free up vital space on our railways for passengers and freight, generate hundreds of thousands of jobs and deliver better connections between our towns and cities.”

(Image: HS2)

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