Ministers will oversee the building of the HS2 rail line as the Government attempts to get hold of soaring costs for the project.

There have been warnings that overall spend of the high-speed railway, which will travel through north-east Oxfordshire, could be more than £65 billion.

Louise Haigh said: "One of my first jobs as Transport Secretary has been to urgently review the position I have inherited on HS2.

"It has long been clear that the costs of HS2 have been allowed to spiral out of control, but since becoming Transport Secretary I have seen up close the scale of failure in project delivery – and it’s dire.

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"Taxpayers have a right to expect HS2 is delivered efficiently and I won’t stand for anything less.

(Image: PA Graphics)

"I have promised to work fast and fix things and that’s exactly why I have announced urgent measures to get a grip on HS2’s costs and ensure taxpayers’ money is put to good use.

"It’s high time we make sure lessons are learnt and the mistakes of HS2 are never repeated again."

The government confirmed the line will only run to Birmingham and it was not considering resurrecting plans for it to continue on to Crewe and Manchester.

The cost of the rail project "soared, due to poor project management, inflation and poor performance from the supply chain", it said.

Ms Haigh said regular meetings will start immediately between the Transport Secretary, Rail Minister Lord Hendy and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on the progress of the project and its costs.

An independent review will be carried out by James Stewart, the former chief executive of Infrastructure UK who worked on the Crossrail project in London.

It will present its report to the Government this winter.

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The Department for Transport warned that some contracts for companies working on HS2 could be renegotiated or amended as part of the process.

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh (Image: Danny Lawson/PA) And it will publish reports on HS2 every six months to “ensure complete accountability and transparency”.

A spokesperson for HS2 Ltd said: “We welcome the Secretary of State’s priorities for HS2 Ltd and are committed to working with the new Government to improve delivery. We also fully support James Stewart’s governance review and look forward to his recommendations.

“HS2 Ltd recognises that there are many lessons to be learned from delivery to date and, under new leadership, are actively implementing the changes within our control to stabilise costs.

“HS2 is a complex project of strategic importance to the UK’s rail network, which will not only provide better journeys, more services and fewer delays for rail passengers, but will unlock economic growth and tackle regional inequality.”