HS1 Channel link leaves £4.8bn debt, says MPs

Taxpayers have been saddled with a £4.8bn debt from the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail line (HS1) so far, a report by a committee of MPs has said.

The Public Accounts Committee blamed over-optimistic forecasts about the number of passengers using the service.

It predicted that the final bill for the London to Folkestone line would rise to £10.2bn by 2070.

MPs on the Public Accounts Committee are warning Ministers not to make the same mistake with a planned high-speed link between London and the North of England, which will cost thirty three billion pounds.

The BBC's Transport Correspondent Richard Westcott reports.

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