A review into the mounting costs of HS2 has been ordered by ministers, according to The Times.

The Department for Transport is reportedly set to call for a re-evaluation of the project, with stretches of the line potentially being axed.

Questions remain over when the London to Birmingham phase will be complete, with the date already pushed back from 2026 to a "window" between 2029 to 2023. Reports also suggest this could be set back another four years.

The projected cost of HS2 has increased from £32billion, when it was approved, to £72billion.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is said to the sceptical about the benefits of HS2, according to The Times.

Mr Sunak is believed to have pushed for cuts to the project when he was Chancellor, but could not convince the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

A study named Operation Blue Diamond is examining ways to cut costs across the entire project, but there is no suggestion that construction in south Warwickshire will be halted.

"No sensible person is suggesting that the section to Birmingham doesn't open," a source with knowledge of the review told the Times.

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"But the rest of it is open to changes."

The review also says that abandoning the scheduled 40-mile Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway route is one of the options behind considered.

In 2021, Boris Johnson's Government announced it was axing most of the eastern second leg of the project — from East Midlands Parkway to Leeds — to find cost savings. 

Now, however, the Financial Times reports that some senior government figures have discussed killing the remaining part of the eastern leg, from Birmingham to East Midlands Parkway, to cut costs even further.

That stretch of the line would provide a Nottingham to London time of just 57 minutes.

If it goes ahead, it is not expected to be completed until 2040 at the earliest.

HS2 has recently submitted plans for its 425-metre viaduct in Balsall Common as well as proposals for huge cuttings in Crackley and Cubbington as well as the Burton Green tunnel.