Ministers to reveal winners of £7bn contracts to build HS2 rail network

 Ministers will today announce the winners of the first construction contracts, worth almost £7billion, to build the UK’S new high-speed rail network in a move that will support 16,000 jobs.

The Government will also confirm plans to extend the railway, known as HS2, from Birmingham to Yorkshire and the North West. The first phase of HS2 will run between London and Birmingham and will see new tunnels, bridges and viaducts built, with some people expressing concerns over the impact the construction could have on rural communities.

The Government has said the high-speed link, which ministers estimate could carry more than 300,000 people a day, will reach Birmingham by 2026.

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, will also publish the draft laws to deliver the next phase of HS2, which will run from the West Midlands to the West Coast Main Line south of Crewe and could open in 2027, earlier than planned, if the Bill is agreed by Parliament. He will also confirm the route of the final phase of the HS2 route from Crewe to Manchester and from Birmingham to the East Midlands and Leeds.