Year
2017 - ongoingDuration
ongoingCost
approximately £62bnLocation
United KingdomProject achievements
Connected communities
It will make it easier and faster to travel across the UK
Used engineering skill
As well as rail, it will build tunnels, viaducts, and more
Economy boosted
The project is supporting over 28,500 jobs
Britain’s new zero carbon, high-speed railway
HS2 is the biggest rail investment ever made in the north of England, and Europe’s largest infrastructure project.
The new railway will run between the north-west and south-east of England, stopping at Manchester, Birmingham and London, with trains continuing on the existing railway network to Scotland and elsewhere.
HS2’s new British-built, bullet style trains will travel at up to 225mph on high-speed and existing railway lines.
HS2 will link Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common in West London in 42 minutes.
The route will also be extended to London Euston, bringing its services into the heart of the capital.
All along the way, towns and cities will be connected to HS2’s services, so more people and places can benefit.
Did you know …
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The project includes building 64 miles of dedicated high-speed rail tunnel – constructed in five separate tunnel drives along the London to West Midlands route.
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It will also see 11 miles of viaducts and bridges – building more than 500 bridging structures – including over 50 major viaducts which will stretch across valleys, rivers, roads and flood plains.
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HS2 will have a fleet of 54 high speed, British-built, bullet-style trains – to be designed, built and maintained in the UK.
How is HS2 being built?
The HS2 project is one of the largest and most complex infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the UK.
It requires a bespoke delivery organisation to execute the planning, design and integration of the components of the new high-speed railway.
The sheer scale of what's needed to deliver the engineering challenge of HS2 is immense.
HS2’s state-of-the-art trains will transform rail travel – aiming to offer passengers unparalleled levels of reliability, speed and comfort, and help fight against climate change.
They are also a major boost for UK train-building.
Major civil engineering works are now underway with £23 billion contracted into the supply chain and around 350 active sites between the West Midlands and London.
This is supporting the creation of over 28,500 jobs. Over 3,000 UK-based businesses have delivered work on HS2 so far.
Phase one
Phase one of HS2 will see a new high speed railway line constructed from London to the West Midlands, where it will re-join the existing West Coast Mainline.
Services will travel onwards to places like Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan.
The new line between them will run on 140 miles of dedicated track.
Four brand new stations and two new depots will also be built.
The first HS2 services will run between Birmingham Curzon Street and Old Oak Common in London between 2029 and 2033 and expand as new sections of the network are built.
Pioneering digital technology
HS2 has been pioneering the use of blockchain to improve data security, project transparency, and efficiency.
This technology links blocks of information in a secure chain, with each block marked with a specific timestamp and transaction data that can't be hacked or altered once submitted.
As well as reducing human error and fraud, this technology enables projects to automate payments and track materials.
This in turn can boost productivity, by reducing admin, and support sustainability by allowing projects to better track the carbon footprint of their materials.
Blockchain's ability to track a material's journey throughout the project, from where it's manufactured to where it ends up on the structure, also supports the implementation of digital twins.
This is because the stored information can be accurately mirrored in the digital version.
Learn more about blockchain on HS2
Productivity
Expedition Engineering was commissioned to develop the HS2 Productivity Improvement Programme. This strategy supported the project's efforts to reduce costs and carbon and maximise efficiency on the project.
Using its innovative Tiger Team methodology, Expedition identified critical areas of wastefulness in construction and design.
When it came to HS2, 19 different elements, ranging from assets to construction commodities, were examined to determine where cost and carbon were the highest.
These efforts have saved millions of tonnes of carbon, targeted nine major asset classes for productivity improvement, and achieved substantial financial savings.
Just as significantly, it's hoped that the learnings from HS2’s productivity improvement plan will create a model that can be used for industry-wide productivity improvement, helping future engineers maximise efficiency and potential.
