This comes after the Labour Peer cut ties with the Government commissioned independent Oakervee Review, which he deputy chaired. Lord Berkeley expressed discontent with the way the as yet unpublished review was conducted and distanced himself from its conclusions and recommendations.

His new ‘dissenting report’ describes High Speed 2 as ‘the wrong and expensive solution’ to improving north-south intercity rail services and says Ministers have failed to report objectively and fairly on costs and programme changes.

Parliament, he adds, needs ‘one firm figure’ for the project’s funding envelope. Lord Berkeley estimates this figure to be £107Bn, significantly above High Speed 2’s own evaluation which is currently between £81Bn and £88Bn.

The report also claims that the project has been planned around a specification which is ‘unnecessarily high and expensive’ and that the full scheme’s benefit-cost ratio is likely to be less than one and possibly as low as 0.6.

Lord Berkeley urges more focus on local or regional railway improvements, including in the Midlands and Northern Powerhouse. He suggests that greater benefits may be achieved by integrating planned HS2 Phase 2B lines into the existing rail network within the Northern Powerhouse, and through track quadrupling in the North and Midlands.

‘The aim must be to give these areas the same standard of commuting services as there is in the South East while, at the same time, improving the existing lines from London northwards,’ his report states. ‘This option would save around £50Bn compared to the cost of HS2’.

However sub national transport body Midlands Connect’s director Maria Machancoses responded: “Lord Berkeley’s suggestion that the Government should consider building only small sections of HS2 in the north of England shows a disgraceful ignorance of how important the scheme is to the Midlands.

“HS2 must be delivered in full. There are no ‘shovel ready’ alternatives that could transform our rail network in the same way, provide the extra capacity we so desperately need and contribute to our low carbon transport future.”

Transport for the North’s director for Northern Powerhouse Rail Tim Wood commented: “The knock on effects of scaling back or cancelling HS2 in the North would be significant, putting in jeopardy thousands of extra train journeys each year and the regional growth plans built around HS2 arriving.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “The Government commissioned the Oakervee review to provide advice on how and whether to proceed with HS2, with an independent panel representing a range of viewpoints.

“Lord Berkeley’s report represents his personal view.”

(Image: Grimshaw Architects)