By . Ray Massey, Transport Editor . PUBLISHED: . 18:38 EST, 15 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:38 EST, 15 May 2013 . Ministers have got their sums wrong and left the  controversial high-speed rail scheme with a £3billion funding gap, a report revealed yesterday. Transport bosses have also exaggerated the benefits that the HS2 project will bring to communities in terms of jobs and growth,  the damning analysis of the Government’s business case claims. The publication of the report by the National Audit Office has cast serious doubts over the £33billion rail link and provoked a furious row after a senior minister called the economic justification for it ‘ludicrous’. Ministers have got their sums wrong and left the controversial high-speed rail scheme with a £3billion funding gap, a report says. Pictured, a Eurostar train arrives at Kings Cross St Pancras station . The spending watchdog said it had reservations over how HS2 is expected to transform regional economies with jobs and growth and said current evidence provided a ‘weak foundation’ for success. The findings were backed by Margaret Hodge, chairman of the powerful Commons’ Public Accounts Committee, who said it proved the business case was ‘not up to scratch’ and was underpinned by ‘ludicrous’ assumptions. Saying there was ‘virtually no evidence’ the high speed rail link to the North will support the predicted  economic benefits, she added: ‘An estimated £3billion funding gap has been identified for HS2, already bringing into question the affordability of this project. ‘We have been told that it will deliver around 100,000 jobs but  there is no evidence that all these jobs would not have been created anyway.’ The Labour MP added that transport bosses had ‘belatedly identified errors in their calculations that have wiped £12billion off the expected benefits’ and left themselves ‘no room for mistakes’. The HS2 plan has proved unpopular with many and questions have been raised about the benefits it will bring . ‘Unless the Department (of Transport) gets its act together, HS2 will not deliver all intended benefits for travellers and the regions, and it will not deliver value for the taxpayer,’ Mrs Hodge said. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin hit back by rejecting the report’s ‘core conclusion’ and said there was a clear case that HS2  would generate hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds worth of economic benefits. Borrowing a line from the TV comedy series Little Britain, he insisted: ‘We are not building HS2 simply because the computer says “Yes”. ‘We are building it because it is  the right thing to do to make Britain a stronger and more prosperous place. ‘Economic modelling is just the start of the story – if we only relied on modelling we would not have built the M1, parts of the M25 or the Jubilee line extension to Canary Wharf.’ Hilary Wharf, of the campaign group HS2 Action Alliance, said the report was a ‘scathing indictment’ of a ‘bogus’ business case. ‘HS2 simply cannot withstand independent scrutiny,’ she said.
The National Audit Office report casts doubts over £33billion rail link .
Spending watchdog said evidence provided ‘weak .
foundation’ for success .
One senior minister called the economic justification for it 'ludicrous'
By . Ray Massey, Transport Editor . PUBLISHED: . 18:38 EST, 15 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 18:38 EST, 15 May 2013 . Ministers have got their sums wrong and left the  controversial high-speed rail scheme with a £3billion funding gap, a report revealed yesterday. Transport bosses have also exaggerated the benefits that the HS2 project will bring to communities in terms of jobs and growth,  the damning analysis of the Government’s business case claims. The publication of the report by the National Audit Office has cast serious doubts over the £33billion rail link and provoked a furious row after a senior minister called the economic justification for it ‘ludicrous’. Ministers have got their sums wrong and left the controversial high-speed rail scheme with a £3billion funding gap, a report says. Pictured, a Eurostar train arrives at Kings Cross St Pancras station . The spending watchdog said it had reservations over how HS2 is expected to transform regional economies with jobs and growth and said current evidence provided a ‘weak foundation’ for success. The findings were backed by Margaret Hodge, chairman of the powerful Commons’ Public Accounts Committee, who said it proved the business case was ‘not up to scratch’ and was underpinned by ‘ludicrous’ assumptions. Saying there was ‘virtually no evidence’ the high speed rail link to the North will support the predicted  economic benefits, she added: ‘An estimated £3billion funding gap has been identified for HS2, already bringing into question the affordability of this project. ‘We have been told that it will deliver around 100,000 jobs but  there is no evidence that all these jobs would not have been created anyway.’ The Labour MP added that transport bosses had ‘belatedly identified errors in their calculations that have wiped £12billion off the expected benefits’ and left themselves ‘no room for mistakes’. The HS2 plan has proved unpopular with many and questions have been raised about the benefits it will bring . ‘Unless the Department (of Transport) gets its act together, HS2 will not deliver all intended benefits for travellers and the regions, and it will not deliver value for the taxpayer,’ Mrs Hodge said. Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin hit back by rejecting the report’s ‘core conclusion’ and said there was a clear case that HS2  would generate hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds worth of economic benefits. Borrowing a line from the TV comedy series Little Britain, he insisted: ‘We are not building HS2 simply because the computer says “Yes”. ‘We are building it because it is  the right thing to do to make Britain a stronger and more prosperous place. ‘Economic modelling is just the start of the story – if we only relied on modelling we would not have built the M1, parts of the M25 or the Jubilee line extension to Canary Wharf.’ Hilary Wharf, of the campaign group HS2 Action Alliance, said the report was a ‘scathing indictment’ of a ‘bogus’ business case. ‘HS2 simply cannot withstand independent scrutiny,’ she said.
report by the National Audit Office has cast serious doubts over the £33billion rail link and called the economic justification for it and said current evidence provided a ‘weak foundation’ for success. The findings were backed