HS2 chief pledges ‘no let-up’ in building high-speed railway - despite scrapping of Northern leg

HS2 Ltd executive chair Sir Jon Thompson said the transition towards railway systems - such as track and signalling - will "edge us ever closer" to completion. The Government-owned company is building HS2 between London and the West Midlands.

Plans to extend the route north to Manchester and Leeds were scrapped to cut costs. A series of construction milestones are expected to take place early in 2024.

Formal work on central Birmingham's new Curzon Street station will begin and the first of two machines digging a 10-mile long twin-bore tunnel under the Chiltern Hills will complete its journey. Eleven contracts worth a total of about £5 billion will be awarded by HS2 Ltd for railway systems next year.

These will cover the installation of features such as tracks, signalling, power supplies and overhead wires, and building a control centre in Birmingham. They will also lead to a telecom system allowing passengers to experience "uninterrupted phones calls and streaming along the entire route, including in tunnels", HS2 Ltd pledged.

Construction relating to many of these contracts is expected to begin in 2026 and 2027 when main civil engineering work reaches its conclusion. Work has started on two-thirds of HS2's viaducts and nearly half its bridges.

Highlights in 2023 included the start of platform installation at the new Old Oak Common station in west London, the completion of a twin-bore tunnel beneath Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire and crossing the halfway point in construction of the Colne Valley Viaduct just outside north-west London.

HS2's workforce passed the 30,000 mark for the first time, with tens of thousands more jobs supported through the supply chain.

Sir Jon said: "This is a project of phenomenal scale and ambition, and we're immensely proud of the progress made between London and the West Midlands throughout 2023. There will be no let-up in delivery in 2024.

"The transition in our focus towards railway systems represents another significant milestone and will edge us ever closer towards bringing this transformational project to life."

Train services are expected to launch between 2029 and 2033. HS2 Ltd is recruiting a new chief executive after incumbent Mark Thurston left the role in September.