show ad Government’s £50billion HS2 project at serious risk of failure after being placed on ‘amber-red’ warning * Spending watchdogs say successful delivery of HS2 remains 'in doubt' * Claim there are 'major risks in number of areas' requiring 'urgent -- * Published in report covering 199 Whitehall schemes by Cabinet Office * HS2's 'amber-red' warning is the second worst of five possible grades * High-speed line will run from London to Birmingham, then on to North -- comments The Government’s controversial £50billion high-speed rail project has been given a damning ‘amber-red’ warning - meaning it is at serious risk of failure. Spending watchdogs say successful delivery of the flagship 330-mile HS2 line, which will run from London to Birmingham and then onwards to the North, remains ‘in doubt’ -- They claim there are ‘major risks in a number of areas’ which require ‘urgent action’ if the scheme is to be saved. At risk: The Government's £50billion high-speed rail project has been given an 'amber-red' warning - meaning it is at serious risk of failure. Above, the HS2 line will run from London to Birmingham, and then on to the North At risk: The Government's £50billion high-speed rail project has been given an 'amber-red' warning - meaning it is at serious risk of failure. Above, the HS2 line will run from London to Birmingham, and then on to the North At risk: The Government's £50billion high-speed rail project has been given an 'amber-red' warning - meaning it is at serious risk of failure. Above, the HS2 line will run from London to Birmingham, and then on to the North -- and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith. HS2's 'amber-red' rating follows an earlier row over the Government’s refusal to publish documents relating to an earlier damning assessment on the scheme. -- number of areas' which require 'urgent action' if the scheme is to be saved. Above, the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct, part of the planned HS2 route Controversial: Spending watchdogs claim there are 'major risks in a number of areas' which require 'urgent action' if the scheme is to be saved. Above, the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct, part of the planned HS2 route Controversial: Spending watchdogs claim there are 'major risks in a number of areas' which require 'urgent action' if the scheme is to be saved. Above, the Birmingham and Fazeley viaduct, part of the planned HS2 route Angry: The alarming assessment by the watchdog Major Projects Authority -- The new MPA assessment - covering the period from July to September last year - was welcomed by opponents of HS2, who have condemned the project as a ‘white elephant’ and an expensive ‘vanity project.’ -- The MPA report states: ‘The amber/red delivery confidence assessment on HS2, like other projects with a similar assessment, indicates that the focused attention that is being applied to addressing the remaining issues must continue.’ It adds: ‘High Speed Rail (HS2) is a high-profile example of a project that displays many of these challenges. It is not unusual for projects of this scale to have a lower delivery confidence assessment early in -- remain to be resolved. ‘Significant progress has been made in the last year on HS2, for example in depositing the High Speed Rail Bill in Parliament and securing successful second reading in the Commons.’ But Penny Gaines who chairs campaign group Stop HS2 said: ‘The MPA have kept giving HS2 amber/red ratings. The Department for Transport may claim that it is a project in excellent shape, but the evidence says otherwise.’ And Richard Houghton of HS2Action Alliance said: ‘It’s no surprise the report concludes HS2 is at risk of failure. This project is running out of control.’ The Bill for HS2 recently survived its second reading - despite fury and a backbench rebellion by dozens of Tory backbenchers. But a Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘As the MPA itself makes clear, HS2 has made significant progress in the eight months since the evidence for this report was gathered, most recently with MPs voting 452 to 41 in favour of the Second Reading of the hybrid Bill. -- the ground in 2017 as planned. Protest: The new MPA assessment - covering the period from July to September last year - was welcomed by opponents of HS2, who have condemned the project as a 'white elephant' and an expensive 'vanity project' Protest: The new MPA assessment - covering the period from July to September last year - was welcomed by opponents of HS2, who have condemned the project as a 'white elephant' and an expensive 'vanity project' Protest: The new MPA assessment - covering the period from July to September last year - was welcomed by opponents of HS2, who have condemned the project as a 'white elephant' and an expensive 'vanity project' 'HS2 is a vital part of the Government’s long term economic plan and we are determined to ensure Britain will benefit from the jobs, skills and extra capacity it will provide.’ -- The report's publication comes as campaigners have been fighting for months to have details of earlier internal correspondence between ministers and HS2 Ltd made public. In April, Britain’s freedom of information tsar announced he was to launch an ‘unprecedented’ High Court challenge against the Government after ministers used a wartime veto to censor embarrassing details about the controversial HS2 high speed rail project. Information Commissioner Christopher Graham said he was seeking a -- McLoughlin invoked rare emergency veto powers to ban publication of a damning Whitehall Project Assessment Report into the Government’s controversial HS2 high speed rail. The banned report is also believed to have put an ‘amber-red’ rating on -- Six months earlier, the Information Commissioner had already ruled that the Government had to disclose the controversial HS2 report. But the Government refused to comply. -- New figures revealed last week that taxpayer spending on consultants for the controversial high speed HS2 project is accelerating 86per cent and £87million over budget. Expert analysis of the Department for Transport’s spending to the end of February 2014 by construction magazine Building reveals that the Whitehall-run firm set up to manage the project - HS2 Ltd - has overshot its allocated £101m budget by £87million for four lots of professional services contracts. -- budget. Preparatory work on HS2 is set to start in 2016, ahead of building work in 2017. -- Share or comment on this article: HS2 at serious risk of failure after being placed on 'amber-red' warning *