The employment tribunal has awarded over 319,000 in compensation to HS2 whistleblower Stephen Cresswell. A damning tribunal decision and renewed scrutiny of escalating costs of the UK’s high speed rail project, as delivery dates seem less robust than ever.
Whistleblower Stephen Cresswell, a former cost analyst at HS2 Ltd, lost his contract in 2022 after repeatedly warning that the 30 billion pound estimate from 2010 had ballooned dramatically. He alleged that HS2 executives instructed him to “disregard” his own forecasts, which projected a “significant” rise in project costs. Those warnings were allegedly dismissed or concealed, according to widely disseminated reports in the British media.
The employment tribunal has now vindicated former HS2 consultant Stephen Cresswell’s claims that the true cost of the high-speed rail project was being deliberately obscured. Total expenditure is now routinely cited as well above 80 billion pounds(94bn). Some estimates say the final bill for the London–Birmingham line will exceed 100 billion pounds (117bn).
Following the tribunal’s finding that HS2 failed to protect Cresswell after he warned about “significant” cost inflation, calls are mounting for a comprehensive, independent investigation. Campaigners argue that unless there’s a full audit and reset, HS2 risks becoming the epitome of mismanaged taxpayer-funded infrastructure.
At the Croydon employment tribunal in...
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