Watchdog blames UK government for high-speed rail cost overruns

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's flagship new rail project HS2 is billions of pounds over-budget and years behind schedule because the government underestimated its complexity, and significant risks to it remain, a public spending watchdog said on Friday. The criticism comes ahead of the publication of a review into whether HS2 should go ahead at all, due to its spiralling cost and amid questions about whether the money would be better spent on boosting existing services. The National Audit Office (NAO) criticised the Department for Transport (DfT), the government-funded company behind the project, HS2 Ltd, and the wider government.

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