HS2's structures should have been ‘largely completed' by now
Notice to proceed was granted by the government in April 2020.
Mr Wild blamed cost overruns on the awarding of contracts which meant the government held all the risk in case of problems, and failings of HS2 Ltd.
He said the coronavirus pandemic and the rise in inflation caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine had also had an impact.
Phase One of HS2 between London and Birmingham was initially planned to open by the end of 2026.
This was later pushed back to between 2029 and 2033, but Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said last month there was 'no route' to meeting that timeframe.
In 2013, HS2 was estimated to cost £37.5 billion (at 2009 prices) for the entire planned network, including the now-scrapped extensions from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
In June last year, HS2 Ltd assessed the cost for the line between London and Birmingham would be up to £66 billion.
HS2 workers gather to observe boring machine Mary Ann breaking through at Washwood Heath depot near Birmingham city centre (Jacob King/PA)
Mr Wild, who was appointed late last year, told the Commons Transport Select Committee: 'The construction of the civil engineering should have been largely completed by now.
'The reality is we're about 60% complete.'
He added: 'The whole scheme, which includes, of course, the tracks, the overhead lines, the trains, the system integration, we're about a third complete.'
Mr Wild described the project as 'a unique challenge in this country'.
He went on: 'A third of this route is actually underground or in cuttings.
'This is a huge, considerable, maybe the biggest civil engineering project ever undertaken in this country.
'The facts are, in the first two years of effort, we simply didn't make enough progress.'
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