Five HS2 workers dismissed after air rifle fired inside workshop
Five HS2 workers were dismissed after a whistleblower reported colleagues firing an air rifle inside a West Ruislip construction workshop, prompting a police investigation. The incident, alongside allegations of workers sleeping on duty and safety concerns, has renewed scrutiny of the delayed and costly rail project.
Whistleblower Aminadab Enos de Souza Dias said the rifle was brought onto the site in spring 2025 and used repeatedly; mechanic Keith Mewes, who owned it, said he regretted bringing it in. British Transport Police closed its investigation after establishing the suspected rifle was no longer at the site. Separately, four workers were taken to hospital after a cement-pipe explosion there in 2024, though HS2 said there were no major injuries; the project’s cost has risen from £37.5 billion to potentially more than £100 billion.
- Five workers were dismissed after air-rifle footage emerged.
- Police closed their investigation when the rifle was no longer on site.
- The incident adds to scrutiny of HS2’s safety and rising costs.
New here? Start with this
HS2 is a high-speed railway project designed to connect London with Birmingham and the North of England. It is one of Britain's most significant infrastructure schemes, representing a major investment in rail transport.
The project has experienced substantial cost overruns since its inception, with estimates rising from £37.5 billion to potentially over £100 billion. It has also faced repeated delays and various incidents at its construction sites, raising questions about management and safety.
The West Ruislip workshop has been the location of several concerning incidents during the construction phase. These have included a cement pipe explosion in 2024 that sent workers to hospital and reports of workers sleeping on duty, alongside other safety and management concerns that have prompted scrutiny of the site and the wider project.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The discharge of an air rifle on an HS2 site, combined with reports of workers sleeping on duty and a cement-pipe explosion hospitalising four people, suggests concerning lapses in safety management and contractor discipline. These incidents, occurring alongside the project's cost explosion from £37.5bn to potentially over £100bn, indicate systemic failures in oversight and control rather than isolated misconduct. Such breaches would be unacceptable on a properly managed major infrastructure project and warrant serious questions about HS2's operational governance.
The case against
Whilst regrettable, the air rifle incident demonstrates that HS2's safety systems and reporting mechanisms function correctly—misconduct was identified, investigated and appropriately punished through dismissals. Individual misbehaviour by a handful of workers does not indicate systemic failure across a vast construction programme; large projects occasionally experience such incidents, and what matters is the swift response, which occurred here. The cost overruns reflect broader planning and scope decisions rather than site-level management failures, and ought not be conflated with workplace discipline issues.
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Daily Mail as “Moment HS2 night-shift workers fire a powerful air rifle inside workshop – as five are sacked from £100billion rail project”.