Yesterday, Wednesday 12 July, HS2 Ltd announced that its Chief Executive Officer Mark Thurston would step down after six and a half years at the helm of Europe’s largest infrastructure project.

I want to thank him for his work over the last six years on progressing Britain’s most transformative rail project. He successfully oversaw the start of construction and drove the project to full scale with HS2 supporting tens of thousands of jobs, including apprenticeships, across the country. The Government and I are grateful for his service.

HS2 continues to represent a strategic investment into our national infrastructure, connecting our biggest cities and injecting more innovation and skills into the UK’s construction sector.

Mark will leave HS2 Ltd at the end of September this year, when Sir Jon Thompson will become Executive Chair for an interim period while a new Chief Executive is recruited.

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