Engineering design contracts have been awarded for the second phase of HS2 to connect Birmingham with Manchester and Leeds.
The contracts, which cover initial concept engineering designs and environmental services, are the first to be announced for the project’s northern route.
AECOM and Mott MacDonald will deliver engineering services for the west and east leg of the route respectively – in deals worth a combined £6.3 million – and Arup will examine the environmental impact of the scheme.
Concepts for Phase Two will form the basis of HS2’s proposals ahead of consultation later this year.
The 211-mile section north of Birmingham will include new stations in Manchester city centre, Manchester Airport, Leeds city centre, Sheffield Meadowhall and in the East Midlands between Nottingham and Derby in Toton.
Alison Munro, chief executive of HS2 Ltd, said: “HS2 will transform the UK through bringing our major cities closer together, helping to promote economic growth, driving regional regeneration, creating thousands of jobs and providing a long-term solution to the capacity crunch facing our existing rail network.
“We have already created 1,200 jobs through our Professional Services Framework for Phase One of the scheme and Phase Two will create thousands more.
“We have achieved a tremendous amount so far and we now have an excellent team in place to take Phase Two forward to the next stages including the consultation, which has been brought forward to start later this year.”
Last January, Ministers announced HS2’s 140-mile southern phase one route between London and Birmingham, which starts construction in four years and opens to passengers in 13 years.
