Phase One: London to West Midlands
Learn about the HS2 Phase One route and its construction.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have made the decision to postpone all of our public face-to-face engagement events and meetings for the safety of our staff, stakeholders and communities. We have also put in place alternative ways of communicating and engaging regularly with communities to ensure that we can continue to inform, listen and respond.
The HS2 Helpdesk remains operational all day, every day, and is your first point of contact: Freephone 08081 434 434; Minicom 08081 456 472; Email: [email protected]. If you contact us by post there will be an extended delay in us responding to you.
Learn about the HS2 Phase One route and its construction.
Phase One of HS2 will see a new high speed railway line constructed from Euston to north of Birmingham, where it will re-join the existing West Coast Mainline. Services will travel onwards to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan. Phase One will open between 2029 and 2033.
The new line between London and Birmingham will run on 140 miles of dedicated track. Four brand new stations and two new depots will also be built. 22,000 workers will be needed to complete construction.
View the interactive route map. Find out more about the stations. Or watch the video below to understand the scale of construction.
Accessibility: Full video transcript.
13,000 people have already worked on HS2. We’ve announced 22,000 further jobs, with more big contracts and jobs to come. They will be constructing a railway that will be a feat of British engineering. The Phase One route will have more miles of tunnels than Crossrail and a bridge longer than the Forth Rail Bridge.
Construction will begin with the biggest engineering challenges – such as the stations and tunnels – then the main viaducts and bridges, and finally meets in the middle with the route surface works. As such, most activity during 2020 will be focused on the city centre station sites and the major construction compounds at Old Oak Common, South Portal, Calvert and Streethay.
All along the route this year, Enabling Works contractors will start to hand over to Main Works contractors with station construction also starting at Old Oak Common. Detailed design work will continue in parallel for the likes of Euston and the surface route, while procurement will continue for the later stages of the build, such as the Birmingham stations, rolling stock, track and overhead systems.
HS2 will use the best of British skills and innovation to prepare and build the route.
Enabling Works contractors will complete the majority of the archaeological investigations, continue to clear the surface route, and deliver new habitat and tree planting as part of the Green Corridor project.
Our Enabling Works contractors will complete the clearance of the major station sites – Euston, Old Oak Common, Interchange and Curzon Street.
We will complete the set-up of the biggest construction site compounds, which will act as regional centres for construction and logistics, with hundreds of workers on each site.
The first tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be completed and delivered ahead of their launch in 2021.
In 2021, the foundations for the Colne Valley Viaduct, the longest viaduct in the UK, will be laid.
Motorway bridges will be installed at the Interchange site and preparations at Washwood Heath – This is a maintenance depot just outside Birmingham where trains will be serviced and maintained.
We will begin restoration of the old Curzon Street station building, which will be converted into a local information centre adjacent to our new station.
Construction will begin at Old Oak Common with the construction partner starting to build the huge box from which the east-bound London TBMs will be launched and the new platforms built.
There are three main benefits of HS2:
The joint ventures (JV) contractors are:
As well as archaeology, site clearance and establishing site compounds, early works delivers a range of activities including utility diversions, ecology surveys, demolition, ground remediation, watercourse activities, highways realignments, monitoring and instrumentation, structural reinforcements and drainage work.
Find out more about careers in our supply chain and where our contractors are working.
The forum provides the opportunity for local authorities, the nominated undertaker and representatives from government departments to cooperate and carry out work for Phase One of the project.
Invitees to the forum include officers from qualifying local authorities, HS2 and the Department for Transport. Meetings are chaired by an independent Chair.
Details about the forum, its sub-groups and its minutes, back to 2013, can be found on GOV.UK
Visit our community websites to find out more about the route as it travels through communities, how it is being constructed and what we are doing to make this less disruptive. The sites host: local area plans, local engagement plans, contractor liaison plans and local event information.
More sites are being prepared to serve other areas. All community sites can also be found on the HS2 community site hub .
Learn about the Phase One Hybrid Bill and Undertakings and Assurances.
The Phase 2a line will run between Fradley in the West Midlands and Crewe in Cheshire. There it will connect with existing high speed services to carry passengers between London and Crewe. Services will travel onward to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan. Find out more about Phase 2a.
The Phase 2b line forms a Y shape, split into an eastern and a western leg. The western leg will connect to the high speed lines at Crewe and run through to Manchester. The eastern leg will connect to high speed lines in the West Midlands and run through to Leeds. Services will also travel onward to places like Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan. Find out more about Phase 2b.