A trio of construction consortiums have secured up to £900 million worth of contracts on phase one of HS2.

The enabling works deals include archaeological investigations, site clearance and the setting up of construction compounds ahead of the start of the main civil engineering work.

The successful firms are:

• Area South – CS JV (Costain Group Plc, Skanska Construction UK Ltd)

• Area Central – Fusion JV (Morgan Sindall Plc, BAM Nuttall Ltd, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Ltd)

• Area North – LM JV (Laing O'Rourke Construction Ltd, J Murphy & Sons Ltd)

Announcing the details today, 15 November, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling also revealed the preferred route for Phase Two of HS2 from Crewe to Manchester, and from the West Midlands to Leeds.

On the western leg, a previously proposed rolling stock depot at Golborne will be relocated to a site north of Crewe, while the approach to Manchester Piccadilly will move 370 metres eastwards with the northern tunnel portal in Ardwick. In addition, the Middlewich - Northwich area route will move 800 metres westwards.


On the eastern leg, plans include moving the route to the east of Measham in Leicestershire; to go around instead of tunnel under East Midlands Airport; to amend the alignment of the preferred route as it passes through Long Eaton to reduce severance in the local community and reduce impacts on the highway network and existing rail infrastructure; and to move the alignment of the route from Derbyshire to West Yorkshire.

Minister Grayling said: "HS2 is an ambitious and exciting project and we must seize the opportunity it offers to transform our country for future generations. The route decision I have published today takes us an important step closer to realising the full potential of HS2."

Leeds City Council Leader Judith Blake welcomed the preferred route option as well as plans to redevelop Leeds Station.

She said: "This is very welcome news not only to provide further confidence that HS2 will be completed in its entirety but also to offer certainty in that everyone can now know exactly where and how it will come into Leeds. That is hugely important as now planning at all levels can be carried out in an informed way around HS2, what it means and where it will go.

"This announcement also confirms the remodelling of Leeds Station as a single integrated transport hub, which is very pleasing as it is a key element of the South Bank Leeds development which aims to provide more than 35,000 jobs, over 4,000 homes and educational facilities for over 10,000 students."

(LM/MH)