HS2 must learn the lesson from the 2012 Olympics that is important to grasp the nettle about cost increases, according to one of the ex-ministers at the heart of London’s winning bid.

Richard Caborn, minister of sport when London submitted its successful bid in the early Noughties, said at our HS2 Economic Growth Conference that the Games budget had increased from £2.4bn at the bid’s outset to £9.3bn.

Referring to the HS2 Ltd’s admission that that costs will rise from the original budget of £56bn, he said: “Even though it will get headlines and they won’t be that favourable, sometimes you have to grasp the nettle and be absolutely realistic. [emaillocker id=”71749″]

“When embarking on a project of this size and magnitude and with an impact on all our lives and many generations to come, you need realism, honesty and to say to the public this is in your interest because it is in the nation’s interest. It’s a major step to addressing the north-south divide.

“To slow down or cancel HS2 will be the biggest vote of no confidence in the north of England that any government could create. It is important that message is sent out loud and clear.”

But the former Sheffield MP said another lesson from the Olympics was that the private companies delivering HS2 should be subject to a tough performance regime.

“Broadly speaking the private sector will deliver but if it doesn’t, it will get penalised and very heavily.

“If they don’t deliver, they will pay the price for it and pay heavily indeed. The Olympics came in on time and budget, which is the type of discipline you need on these big projects.”

Caborn told delegates that HS2 is an “integral” to plans for Sheffield’s Olympic Legacy Park, which he is project lead on, because it will help to address the city’s traditional poor connections with London and the midlands.

The park aims to deliver 1 million sq ft of new health and well-being related employment floor space, bringing in £200m of private sector investment and boosting the GVA of the Sheffield economy to the tune of £1.7bn by 2042.

The private sector capital investment, which includes a £50m Centre for Child Health Technology, would help to deliver 3,500 jobs by 2030, he said. The project also includes more than 500 new homes.

But Caborn pleaded with HS2 to ensure that the new line’s rolling stock is designed and manufactured in the UK. “If we can do it with Boeing should be able to do it with trains,” he said, referring to the aerospace giant’s decision to tap Sheffield’s capability in high value manufacturing by locating its new wing flap factory at the south Yorkshire AMRC.

Ben Morgan, director of the AMRC, said there is “no question” that the UK should be building this rolling stock. that, pointing to research showing that three quarters of the tunnelling equipment being used worldwide could be manufactured in the UK.

Iain Thomson, head of investor relations and communications at Harworth Group, called for better use to be made of the region’s rail connected sites in order to relieve pressure on the north’s congested road network.

He said better use of these sites could take pressure off through movement of goods to ports and other key locations, including SIRFT. Thomson said that the majority of the region’s existing rail infrastructure dates back to the Victorian era.

But he said HS2 would increase the number of rail connected sites that could be made available for rail, 16 of which Harworth owns, including the former Kellingley Colliery.

But only two of its rail connected sites are currently operational, Thomson said: “More needs to be done to get these back into use and promoted to national and international occupiers.

“We ought to be maximise the potential of those sites and for government to support as many of those sites being brought forward as soon as possible.”

The company’s sites include Harworth & Evans’ Gateway 45 Leeds, which has been selected as the location for HS2’s rolling stock depot.

In addition a ten-acre plot at the Gateway 45 Leeds development has been bought by the University of Leeds for a new engineering and technology campus specialising in high speed rail research and development.

The campus, which received planning permission in March 2019, will feature the Institute for High Speed Rail and System Integration, showcased earlier during the HS2 conference’s Leeds session.

The AMRC’s Morgan said that the delay caused by the Oakervee review provided an opportunity to take stock of the project and examine the scope for how innovation and different technologies that have yet to be explored by the project. [/emaillocker]