Next HS2 boss to get bumper pay deal to deliver delayed project on time and in budget

Next project chief could be paid more than the £677,000 amid ongoing delays and spiralling costs

The government could be forced to offer a bumper pay deal for the next HS2 boss in a bid to find someone to deliver the project on time and within budget.

Sir Jon Thompson, executive chair of HS2 Ltd, told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) the next project chief could be paid more than the £677,000 per year their predecessor received despite the project being curtailed.

Mark Thurston left his role as chief executive in September saying someone else should take over as the project transitions from construction to a “defining period” involving the installation of railway systems, such as track and signalling equipment.

Last month, the government stripped HS2 Ltd of its responsibility for Euston station, and axed plans to extend the high-speed railway from Birmingham to Manchester.

The scrapping of the northern leg came weeks after The Independent first revealed the government would axe the landmark high-speed rail project.

Asked by PAC about the progress in starting the search for a new chief executive, Sir Jon said: “The only outstanding issue is the question of salary, which is currently with ministers.

“My recommendation to ministers is that we change the reward structure so that it’s much more heavily incentivised towards meeting the schedule and delivering to the lowest possible cost.

“So it will be a lower base than Mr Thurston but there will be more opportunity to earn a higher salary if you meet all the necessary targets on schedule and cost.

“That is currently under consideration by ministers.”

HS2 was initially scheduled to open in 2026, but this has been delayed to between 2029 and 2033 due to construction difficulties and rising costs.

A budget of £55.7bn for the whole project was set in 2015, but the target cost excluding the eastern leg of Phase 2b from the West Midlands to the East Midlands has soared to between £53bn and £61bn at 2019 prices.

The scrapping of the northern leg prompted outrage from former prime minister, now-foreign secretary David Cameron, who said Rishi Sunak had “thrown away 15 years of cross-party consensus” and made future infrastructure projects much harder.

Mayors in the north also blasted the failed project, saying the scrapping of phase two was “the biggest two fingers to the North seen in decades”.