This is a significant portion of the cost, huge amounts of 'green tunnels' and cuttings are being created where they are not needed.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/07/cost-of-shed...
Firstly, the 'bat shed' (officially SWBMS) is expected to cost £100m. This is neither expensive nor wasteful for a structure nearly 1 kilometre long and "designed to accommodate up to 36 high-speed trains passing through the structure every hour of operation for 120 years, plus frequent conventional rail traffic in addition" as reported by Architects' Journal[1].
One should also refer to Natural England's own press release on the subject[2]. The first paragraph is worth quoting verbatim: "Natural England has not required HS2 Ltd to build the reported structure, or any other structure, nor advised on the design or costs. The need for the structure was identified by HS2 Ltd more than 10 years ago, following extensive surveying of bat populations by its own ecologists in the vicinity of Sheephouse Wood." It is absurd to think that Natural England would want to build a kilometre-long structure beside a forest if they didn't think it was of net benefit to the environment, yet that is the spin that most newspapers are putting on it.
Additionally, Louise Haigh is, as far as I can tell, a genuinely pro-rail minister. She is for instance the only cabinet member to have filed any significant MP's expenses for rail travel. However, it should also be remembered that the current Labour government's publicity strategy has consistently been to depict all projects started by the previous Tory governments as wasteful or corrupt; thus, we should take any of her communications with a pinch of salt.
I am very excited about HS2, which is being built to standard European loading gauges and will allow for high-capacity double-decker train services. Yet this does not have to be at the expense of local ecology, and these cuttings and tunnels are necessary to support both goals.
[1]: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/transport-secretary...
[2]: https://naturalengland.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/08/natural-englan...
The issue is that, in this instance, government-in-the-form-of-HS2-Ltd has to negotiate an agreement between government-in-the-form-of-endangered-species-protection; government-in-the-form-of-local-planning-officers and government-in-the-form-of-the-treasury.
And the bat shed is just one example of something that happened over and over along the route.
In a less enlightened country, once the glorious leader had drawn a line on a map and ordered it to be built, no further approval would be required.