HS2 chief executive Mark Thurston quits after six years in charge

The chief executive of HS2 has resigned amid delays and cost pressures at the £60 billion high-speed railway project.

Mark Thurston, 56, will step down in September after more than six years leading the government-owned company.

He described leading the organisation as the “highlight of my career” but said that “someone else” should take over as the project enters another “defining period”.

The line between London and Birmingham includes several tunnelled sections

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE