HS2 and Crossrail boss Sir Terry Morgan expects to be sacked after project delays

Crossrail has been besieged by delays and rising costs

Sir Terry Morgan as hailed as a ‘world class’ chairman when he joined the HS2 scheme four months ago (PA)

The chairman of both Crossrail and the HS2 rail projects has admitted that he expects to be sacked.

Sir Terry Morgan has only been leading the £56bn HS2 project for four months but has been involved with Crossrail since 2009.

Following reports in the Financial Times that the prime minister is poised to sack him, Sir Terry said that Westminster officials were disappointed at the delays to the Crossrail project.

He told Radio 4's PM: "I did get confirmation late yesterday afternoon that that (the report) was a leak, as far as I'm concerned.

"I'm expecting that to be confirmed more formally in the next few days."

Asked why he thinks he is being forced out, Sir Terry said: “I can only assume that because HS2 is such a critically important programme and with the sense of disappointment around the performance of Crossrail, that it was considered to be too risky for a programme like HS2 to continue in my role as chairman.”

In October, the government announced a £350m bailout for the delayed rail scheme which has been beset by spiralling costs.

he 73-mile express train line, which will run from east to west London, had been due to open by the end of 2018.

However the opening of the central underground section of the £15bn scheme was pushed back to autumn 2019.

Mr Morgan was hailed as a “world class” chairman by transport secretary Chris Grayling when he was appointed as the chairman of the HS2 scheme in August.

The high speed rail project is planned to connect London and the northwest.

It too has been besieged by criticism and controversy.

The government’s infrastructure tsar suggested in August that an extra £43bn of funding was required for the project, in order for commuters to make the most of the ambitious scheme.

Sir John Armitt’s advice, if acted on, would take the total cost of HS2 to £99bn.

His remarks prompted calls for ministers to “re-evaluate” whether HS2 would deliver value for taxpayers’ money.

In 2013 official estimates suggested that the high speed rail project would cost £33bn.