What needs to happen for a successful HS2 Reset?

The recent reset of the HS2 programme represents a pivotal moment in the UK’s largest infrastructure project. We’re all familiar with the cost pressures, delivery risks, and stakeholder scrutiny that have dogged the programme so far. The question is, will this reset get rid of them for good?

The HS2 reset is an opportunity to recalibrate, recommit, and refocus on delivery, but it doesn’t mean those sticky problems are suddenly solved.

In order to put HS2 on the path to delivery and limit further budget stress, WCL believes Mark Wild and the team should focus on several key areas:

• Early and consistent interface integration
• Avoiding more slippage by embedding features expressly for flex and responsiveness
• Moving towards real stakeholder integration, not just communication
• Using new AI tools to deliver long-awaited enhancements to planning, controls and governance

But first – credit where credit’s due

The ability to agree and formalise this reset is no small feat. Credit must go to Mark Wild and the HS2 leadership team for bringing renewed clarity and purpose to the programme. Since stepping into his role, Mark has brought a critical focus on delivery realism, commercial discipline, and stakeholder confidence, all of which are essential to navigating the programme forward.

Also deserving of significant recognition is Emma Head, whose leadership in shaping the new programme of works and defining the associated performance indicators provides a vital operational framework for success. Her work in embedding delivery-focused KPIs into the reset strategy ensures that expectations are measurable, realistic and actionable, which is essential for accountability and cross-contractor alignment.

Together, Mark and Emma are setting the right tone for a reset and a good foundation that contractors and suppliers alike can confidently build upon.

The WCL approach to delivering HS2

Future delivery hinges on integration

At this phase in the HS2 project, where coordinating across Tier 1 contractors and multidisciplinary workstreams in priority one, a successful approach must be built around one core principle: early and consistent interface integration.

While it’s track and systems that will be rising out of the ground to form HS2, the success of the project is really about synchronising activities across civil engineering, rail systems, digital technologies, and environmental compliance.

What does that look like in practice? The crux of what would be WCL’s approach to resetting for integration would be built around:

• Establishing a dedicated Integration Management Office (IMO) to coordinate scope definition, sequencing, and delivery assurance
• Leveraging 4D modelling and digital twins to simulate construction sequencing, flagging interface clashes before they reach site
• Driving early and sustained engagement with Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers, not just Tier 1s, to avoid blind spots in deliverability
• Use of Integrated planning and project controls software and dashboards. AI tools are really coming into their own here; WCL’s latest AI analysis and reporting software is a perfect fit for tasks like these.

Making sure the programme doesn’t slip (again)

A reset alone won’t deliver results unless the commercial framework evolves too. HS2 now needs a delivery model that is not just flexible but accountable and responsive to delivery realities.

To do this, I’d personally recommend frontloading features like:

• Embedding target cost contracts with pain/gain mechanisms to incentivise timely and coordinated delivery
• Utilising agile contract management tools to spot issues early, such as earned value tracking, change risk matrices, and trend-based forecasting
• Introducing interface-specific KPIs to reflect the real complexity of multi-party dependencies

Budget, risk, and government accountability

Given renewed government scrutiny, every pound spent must be justified to both Treasury and to the general public. That means risks, budgets, and contingency allocations need tighter control, with governance that supports informed, auditable decision-making.

Our key recommendations would include:

Dynamic risk registers enabled by new tech

Maintaining live, dynamic risk registers that directly influence budget and programme forecasting.

Probabilistic cost forecasting

Adopting probabilistic cost forecasting, not linear estimates, to reflect delivery uncertainty.

A single source of reporting standards

Ensuring alignment with Department for Transport (DfT) and National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) reporting standards for spend efficiency, public transparency, and governance.

Stakeholder integration, not just communication

HS2 has the capacity to revolutionise the country. Cutting across a large geographic area, benefiting many parts of society, and requiring the inputs of many delivery, contractual and management bodies, means the stakeholder network for this project is vast.

We’ve also seen that difficulties in aligning these stakeholders can be the largest blocker to delivery, as well as a source of negative publicity, or even opposition.

In light of that, I think it bears emphasising that delivering HS2 therefore means delivering confidence and collaboration. This isn’t just about internal teams but government, local communities, and the public as well. In a post-reset environment, stakeholder alignment must be earned through consistency and outcomes.

That requires moving beyond a model of just ‘stakeholder communication’ (where information is exchanged but activity is siloed) and into a regime of ‘stakeholder integration, where the exchange of information is a part of achieving delivery, not just a tick box activity detached from the overall delivery process.

Our approach would involve:

Alignment groups

Creating multi-level stakeholder alignment boards, including representatives from HS2 Ltd, contractors, local authorities, and community liaison teams.

Public dashboards

Publishing clear, public-facing programme dashboards to build visibility and trust.

Communicating the positive

Prioritising social value tracking as a core part of programme metrics — especially job creation, skills development, and environmental commitments.

Seizing the chance to deliver right, rather than repeat wrongs

The HS2 reset gives the project what it urgently needed: a new mandate for realistic delivery, supported by coordinated contracts, empowered contractors, and clear leadership.

Under Mark Wild’s direction, and with Emma Head’s programme structure and performance framework in place, HS2 now has the operational and strategic momentum to re-establish delivery focus and rebuild public trust.

But resets only work when they’re followed by action. From our perspective at WCL Infrastructure, successful delivery now depends on:

• Proactive interface coordination across all contractors and disciplines
• Contractual mechanisms that reward aligned performance
• Transparent risk and budget governance
• And above all, stakeholder and public confidence

With strong leadership and a pragmatic delivery structure now guiding the programme, the focus must shift to execution. This is critical to ensuring that the reset becomes the foundation for the sustainable, visible progress that we all so desperately want for HS2.

[Images sourced from the HS2 media centre]