The HS2 rail line is likely to be extended to London Euston, the transport secretary has reported.
Louise Haigh said it would be “absolutely insane” for the high-speed line to end at Old Oak Common, west London.
His comments come after work to expand Euston station to accommodate HS2 was halted by the previous Conservative government last year due to rising costs.
Haigh told BBC Radio 5Live the decision on ending HS2 would be “clear soon”, with an announcement expected to be made at budget time on October 30.
Currently, plans to terminate at Old Oak Common would mean passengers traveling to central London would have to change trains.
But Haigh told the BBC on Tuesday: “It would make absolutely no sense to build a £66 billion high-speed line between Old Oak Common and Birmingham.”
HS2 was intended to create high-speed rail links between London and major cities in the Midlands and the north of England.
But the project has been stymied by rising costs and issues over its impact on communities.
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in October last year that extending HS2 from Old Oak Common to Euston, which is much closer to central London, would rely on private investment and save money £6.5 billion of taxpayers' money.
Haigh said: “Even under the previous government’s chopped up, changed and discredited plans for HS2, Euston was still going to be part of the solution.”
It is unclear how the current Labor government plans to fund the HS2 extension to Euston. The Department for Transport did not respond to further questions from the BBC following Haigh's comments.
Representatives for HS2 Ltd also declined to comment.
In February, the Commons Public Accounts Committee published a report saying it was “very skeptical” about the government's ability to attract private investment “at the scale and speed required” to make Euston extension a success.
HS2 was originally a Labor commitment, announced in 2009.
The Government's latest estimate of the overall cost of the remaining section between Birmingham and London is between £45 billion and £54 billion.
HS2 was initially intended to connect London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
The new project envisages this being a high-speed link between Birmingham and London, with much work having already been carried out on this section.
The section of the HS2 railway between Parkway and Hampstead Road in Camden is called Euston Approaches and is designed to connect the line to Euston station. It is currently a construction site.
Many of the larger excavations needed to build the Euston Approaches tunnels have been suspended.
This includes suspending construction of a concrete box that was supposed to be a covered section along the railway line where trains would enter and exit the tunnels.
Other works include tunneling and creating a wider and deeper railway called Euston Throat, which would make way for HS2.
