High Speed 2 (HS2) absorbed more than two-thirds of UK rail enhancement and rolling stock expenditure in 2024/25, according to new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). Between April 2024 and March 2025, HS2 received £7.1bn out of a total £10.3bn spent on rail infrastructure enhancements and rolling stock, equivalent to 69% of the overall pot.
The £7.1bn allocated to HS2 represented a £300M (4.5%) reduction on the previous year. ORR attributed this fall to scope changes and the wider reset of the programme announced by HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Wild at the end of last year.
In total, £44.4bn in 2024/25 prices has now been spent on HS2 since the project began, ORR’s data shows. Wild’s initial review of the scheme in March concluded that HS2 was only around one-third complete, underlining the scale of work still to come.
The programme timetable has also come under pressure. Transport secretary Heidi Alexander told Parliament in the summer that the previously stated 2029–2033 opening window was no longer achievable, while HS2 Ltd construction delivery director Alan Morris later said there had been a “definite shift” in productivity during the reset year and that the project is targeting completion of civils works within four years.
Outside HS2, £3.2bn of the £10.3bn rail enhancement and rolling stock spend in 2024/25 went to other programmes. Network Rail enhancements accounted for £2.1bn, with a further £200M directed to the Core Valley Lines and £100M to East West Rail.
Private sector investment in rail infrastructure and rolling stock reached £756M in 2024/25. This covered rolling stock, track and signalling, stations and other rail-related projects, and marked a £161M (27%) increase on the previous year’s private contribution.
Overall public funding for the rail industry, including operator costs, enhancements, infrastructure manager support, train operator funding and rolling stock, totalled £21.6bn in 2024/25. This was £1.5bn (6.5%) lower than in 2023/24, a reduction ORR linked to higher passenger revenues, lower funding for the mainline network and reduced allocations for new infrastructure enhancements.
Network Rail’s expenditure on the mainline network fell by £300M (2.4%) to £11.1bn. This comprised £2.4bn in operating costs, £2.5bn in maintenance, £3.7bn in renewals and £2.5bn in financing costs.
In addition, Network Rail spent £900M on traction electricity and incurred £400M of net costs under the Schedule 4 and Schedule 8 performance regimes, which compensate train operators for planned and unplanned disruption respectively. ORR excludes traction electricity and Schedule 4 and 8 costs from its core analysis of Network Rail expenditure.
Network Rail’s combined operating, maintenance and renewals bill stood at £8.6bn, £100M lower than the previous year and £800M below pre-pandemic levels five years ago. ORR noted that Network Rail continues to service legacy debt raised before its reclassification as a public body in September 2014.
Of the financing costs, £1.1bn related to interest on UK Government borrowing, while £1.3bn covered interest on debt issued on the financial markets, including index-linked bonds. Network Rail and the Department for Transport were approached for comment on the latest figures.
