- A new report from the Centre for Policy Studies highlights the true scale of Britain’s infrastructure cost crisis, with the country spending large sums for comparatively little return
- HS2 is the clearest example of cost failure: at £102.7 billion for just 140 miles of track, it is the most expensive high-speed railway in the world – 25 times more expensive per mile than Spanish equivalents
- If HS2 was built at French average costs, the same investment would deliver 2,635 miles of railway instead of 140 miles – enough to run between London and Edinburgh eight times
- The cost challenge extends across all infrastructure modes: metro extensions cost twice the per-mile average of France or Italy, British trams cost more than double the European average, and Heathrow’s third runway will be 10 to 70 times more expensive than runway additions elsewhere
- The report identifies eight distinct causes of Britain’s uniquely poor performance; including lengthy planning processes, environmental and habitats regulations, judicial review risks, perverse funding structures, weak procurement practices, over-regulation, ineffective civil service capacity, and excessive centralisation of decision-making
The Centre for Policy Studies has today published a comprehensive breakdown of eight key factors driving up Britain’s infrastructure costs, alongside 40 recommendations of how to drive them back down.
Britain’s infrastructure cost problem is not simply about how much the country invests, but rather how little infrastructure it receives for that investment..
HS2 exemplifies this crisis. The most recent estimate of £102.7 billion for just 140 miles of track makes it by far the world’s most expensive high-speed railway. The entire Spanish high-speed rail network – approximately 2,500 miles – was built for around £75 billion in 2025 prices, making Spanish per-mile costs roughly £28 million. HS2 costs over 25 times more per mile.
The same pattern of elevated costs recurs across every kind of infrastructure. The Jubilee and Northern line extensions cost twice the per-mile average of France or Italy and six times that of Spain. The Bakerloo line extension, budgeted at £10.9 billion for 4.7 miles, would be the most expensive subway line ever built per mile outside of New York City. British tram projects cost more than double the European average, whilst Heathrow’s third runway at £21 billion will cost 10 to 70 times more than runway additions elsewhere.
The report identifies eight interconnected factors which raise Britain’s infrastructure costs unreasonably high:
- A planning process that has grown longer and more expensive, with average decision timings rising from 2.6 years in 2012 to 4.2 years in 2021
- Environmental impact assessments have grown from under 400 pages for the Jubilee Line Extension in the 1990s to nearly 18,000 pages for a 3.3 mile railway line to Portishead
- Judicial review is encouraged because of an international treaty, the Aarhus Convention, and is increasing, with legal challenges rising from around one per year between 2008 and 2018 to four per year between 2019 and 2024, with National Highways estimating that a single challenge can add more than £120 million to project costs
- Responsibility for funding projects sits with the Treasury – carrying significant political risk – but with limited ability to control costs once money is committed
- Procurement focuses excessively on lowest cost and social value rather than value for money
- Regulations are set by quangos and arms-length bodies with no stake in cost outcomes
- A civil service without sufficient in-house technical expertise to effectively manage projects. The report highlights findings which show the Department for Transport – where many major infrastructure projects sit – has the second highest staff turnover of any Whitehall department
- The centralisation of decision-making, meaning mayors and local authorities lack the power and incentive to deliver the infrastructure their communities need
The report sets out a comprehensive programme of reform, including amendments to streamline the planning process and make Development Consent Orders a genuine one-stop shop; rebalancing environmental regulations to focus on positive outcomes rather than defensive paperwork; raising cost caps for unsuccessful judicial review claimants; devolving funding and approval powers to metro mayors; reforming procurement to reward value for money and past performance; challenging unnecessary standards; rebuilding in-house engineering capacity within the civil service; and devolving Transport and Works Act Order approvals to elected regional mayors.
CPS Head of Housing and Infrastructure and report author Ben Hopkinson said:
‘Without reform, Britain will continue to spend vast sums on infrastructure while receiving comparatively little in return, and only that after significant delay.
‘Our neighbours do not experience the same problems, there are ways to deliver the infrastructure a country needs quickly and efficiently, without enormous cost to the taxpayer. The recommendations I’ve outlined would help speed up the process of delivering new infrastructure significantly, for less than we currently spend, and allow the economy to unlock the wider benefits of better public transport, greater airport capacity, and more roads.’
Commenting on the report, Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden MP said:
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
- Ben Hopkinson is Head of Housing and Infrastructure at the Centre for Policy Studies
- ‘Lowering Infrastructure Costs’ is available under embargo here
- Ben Hopkinson is available for interview. For further information and media requests, please contact Emma Revell on 07931 698246 or emma@cps.org.uk
- The Centre for Policy Studies is one of the oldest and most influential think tanks in Westminster. With a focus on taxation, economic growth, housing, immigration, and energy abundance, its goal is to develop policies that widen enterprise, ownership and opportunity
Date Added: Thursday 1st October 2026
