George Osborne on rising HS2 rail budget costs The HS2 rail project has a "good budget which has a very big contingency," said the chancellor when asked about reports of rising costs and whether these could be capped. George Osborne said he was passionate about the high speed rail scheme to link London to Birmingham, and later to cities in northern England, despite the costs and opposition, He said the faster trains would "bring the north and south together," and the Olympics showed "we can deliver these big projects sometimes under budget."