This article is more than 2 years old HS2 contracts worth £6.6bn awarded by UK government This article is more than 2 years old -- * Share via Email An architect’s impression of the planned HS2 viaduct at Birmingham and Fazeley. [ ] An architect’s impression of the planned HS2 viaduct at Birmingham and Fazeley. Photograph: HS2/PA The government has awarded £6.6bn in contracts to build the new high-speed HS2 railway between London and Birmingham, to companies including crisis-ridden construction firm Carillion. Construction work is due to begin next year on new stations, tunnels, embankments and viaducts on the London to Birmingham line, which forms the first phase of the controversial HS2 project. The civil engineering alone is expected to create 16,000 jobs. -- Britain”. The union’s deputy general secretary, Paul Nowak, said: “It will provide thousands of decent jobs, billions in investment, and help close the north-south divide. HS2 is a real opportunity for British steel to shine. The next phase of HS2 should bring jobs and investment to the parts of Britain that need them most.” What is HS2 and how much will it cost? Read more The TUC has signed a framework agreement to guarantee high employment standards and to “maximise the potential benefits of HS2 to the UK supply chain”. Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, also published a bill to prioritise phase 2a of HS2, which involves speeding up construction work between Birmingham and Crewe, and confirmed the precise route for phase2b, which will run north via Manchester and Leeds. HS2 northern routes In the wake of fresh claims that the HS2 scheme could be beset by escalating costs, Grayling told the BBC that HS2 would be “on time, on budget” and insisted the government had “a clear idea of what it will cost”. Opponents have warned that the government is underestimating the -- decide on come the budget.” More boasts about HS2's benefits – but costs keep going off the rails Read more -- after it issued a profit warning and announced the departure of its chief executive. However, Carillion shares were up more than 19% on Monday after the HS2 contract win. The firm announced it had appointed accountancy firm EY to support a strategic review of the business. HS2 route map City analysts said the win was “encouraging” for Carillion’s -- Wood Green tunnel to the Delta Junction/Birmingham Spur and the section from the Delta Junction to the west coast main line near Lichfield in Staffordshire. Vinci has been involved in the high-speed Tours-Bordeaux rail project in France. The Balfour Beatty chief executive, Leo Quinn, described HS2 as a “generational engineering project”. -- contracts worth nearly £2bn. Final route for HS2 north of Birmingham to be revealed Read more Other companies to have won HS2 work are French construction group Bouygues and UK firms Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick. Their venture was awarded a £965m contract. -- the blacklisting scandal settled last year. Aslef’s Mick Whelan called for a government pledge not to sell off HS2, after Britain’s only current high-speed track, HS1, was sold on last week by pension funds who were awarded the concession. Whelan said HS2 was being paid for by the taxpayer and should “not be asset stripped by any government for the benefit of privateers”. -- with the full Y-shaped network expected to be in operation by 2033. HS2 phase 1 construction contracts Area South -- * Construction industry * HS2 * Rail transport (UK news) * Transport -- + People on estate facing demolition for HS2 could struggle to find new homes Published: 18 Jul 2017 People on estate facing demolition for HS2 could struggle to find new homes + -- [p?c1=2&c2=6035250&cv=2.0&cj=1&comscorekw=Rail+industry%2CConstruction+ industry%2CHS2%2CRail+transport%2CUK+news%2CTransport%2CCarillion%2CBus iness%2CRail+transport%2CTransport+policy%2CChris+Grayling%2CPolitics]