The official government review into HS2 has reported that the high speed rail project could cost up to £106billion, a significant increase on the £88bn upper estimate from a previous report.
The review led by Doug Oakervee recommends work on HS2 in certain areas should be paused for six months for studies to be conducted on the future of the project.
Some are pushing for scrapping HS2 altogether in an effort to stop throwing money at a project that only appears to be growing in budget. Should the prime minister listen to them and pull the plug?
The Claim
A group of new Tory MPs from the North of England and the Midlands have written to Boris Johnson to demand he scraps HS2 and use the money it would swallow up to fund infrastructure projects in their constituencies.
There are around 60 Conservative MPs who support the HS2 Review Group which opposes the high speed rail project, enough to put a decent amount of pressure on the prime minister.
They are happy to have a government that wants to be seen as funding infrastructure but would prefer that the billions set aside for a huge high speed rail network connecting a few cities is instead used to better connect towns and villages.
As the estimated cost of HS2 continues to grow and the forecasts of economic benefits are downgraded the argument for continuing with high speed rail is diminished.
If the billions that are being spent on it could do more good when allocated elsewhere, particularly if it could be spent in the new constituencies Johnson won at the general election, then it's not impossible the prime minister could be persuaded to ditch HS2.
There are reviews, reports and studies being conducted on the project all the time but there will come a point where the prime minister has to decide whether to stick with HS2, limit it or scrap it altogether. If there is enough pressure on Johnson from his own MPs that time could be sooner than expected.
The Counter Claim
However, while some Tory MPs have asked the prime minister to get rid of HS2 there is another group of 40 MPs who have written to urge him not to abandon the project.
Northern MPs are split over whether HS2 is a good idea but those who support it are very concerned that the first stage of the project will be completed and efforts to cut costs will lead to the government scrapping the rest of it, meaning the South gets high speed rail and the North loses out.
The real benefit of HS2 is not making the trains run faster but with increasing capacity on the lines. Trains are already overcrowded and suffering from delays, more trains running will help increase capacity and get people where they're going faster.
There is an additional environmental benefit to the trains running faster as it can help provide an alternative to domestic flights.
HS2 would cut hours from a potential journey across the UK and make it a more appealing choice for people who need to make the trip.
From an environmental perspective more people using public transport like trains instead of driving or taking a domestic flight is a significant benefit.
Rail lines that are already packed to capacity and don't get expanded will push the public to use less environmentally friendly methods of transport.
The Facts
Despite warning that the costs are rising the Oakervee Report still recommends every part of HS2 be completed.
The first phase of the project which runs between London and Birmingham has already been approved by parliament, the next stages which extend the lines to Leeds and Manchester are yet to be approved.
The scary figure of £106bn has been described as a "could be" figure by Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and part of the review panel of the Oakervee Report.
For now they are still sticking to estimate that HS2 will cost between £81 billion and £88 billion that was outlined in a report from HS2 chairman Allan Cook four months ago.
