Get all the latest politics news Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The HS2 high speed rail line is to be delayed for up to three years.

A first leg of the new rail network, linking London and Birmingham, was due to open in 2026. But this is to be put back until 2028 or 2029, Birmingham Live understands.

Transport Ministers are expected to confirm the delay this week, probably on Tuesday They will also confirm reports that the expected cost of the whole scheme - including phase two, which extends it to Manchester and Leeds - has risen from £56bn to around £80bn.

(Image: PA)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered a review of HS2, which will consider a series of options include scrapping the scheme entirely or finding a way to bring the benefits to the North of England more quickly.

But the delay is not a result of the review. It comes after a report by HS2 chairman Allan Cook for the Department for Transport warned that it is not possible to complete the line within the expected timescale.

It remains possible that the review will recommend cancelling HS2, or making major changes to the project that could cause further delays.

The Department for Transport confirmed last month that a review will consider “whether and how HS2 should proceed”. As revealed by Birmingham Live in July, the review will be chaired by Douglas Oakervee, a former chairman of the 73-mile Crossrail line in London and the South East, and a former chairman of HS2 Ltd, the government-owned business building the high speed rail line.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, a firm supporter of the proposed rail network, will be a member of the review panel. He said he would make the case for going ahead with HS2, and was confident he could win the argument.

Other members of the review panel include John Cridland, a former Director General of the CBI who is now chair of Transport for the North, the transport authority led by northern council leaders and mayors.

Birmingham MP Liam Byrne (Lab Hodge Hill) said HS2 must go ahead. He said on Twitter: "Cancelling HS2 will plunge us back into recession just as the Brexit asteroid hits us. So this review needs to be shorter, sharper - and give us the green light to speed up!"

Opponents of HS2 sometimes argue that the project should be scrapped and the money spent on transport services in the North of England instead.

HS2 will eventually run between London, Birmingham, Crewe, Manchester, the east Midlands and Leeds. Two West Midlands stations are planned, one near Curzon Street, central Birmingham, and one near Birmingham Airport.