National Business, Property Muhammad Aldalou

A number of well-known companies including Carillion, Balfour Beatty, Costain, Sir Robert McAlpine and Skanska are among the winners of more than £6bn of contracts to work on the first stage of HS2, with the final route of the Manchester and Leeds section set to be revealed shortly.

The consortia of companies, which also includes VINCI Construction UK, VolkerFitzpatrick and Kier Infrastructure, will design and construct bridges, tunnels, embankments and viaducts for the first phase of the new high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham.

The expected total value of these contracts including both stage one and stage two is currently estimated to be worth £6.6bn. The second stage (the full construction phase) will commence in 2019 and, along with stage one, is expected to support 16,000 jobs across the country. In addition, they are also expected to generate 7,000 contract opportunities in the supply chain.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling said the progress being made with HS2 is "clear evidence that the government is delivering on its commitments and is getting on with building the infrastructure needed to build a stronger, fairer, more prosperous Britain".

He added: "HS2 will deliver vital links between some of our country's biggest cities, helping to drive economic growth and productivity in the north and midlands. As well as providing desperately needed new seats and better connecting our major cities, HS2 will help rebalance our economy.

"We will now get on with building the railway, while continuing to ensure affected communities get appropriate support and are treated with fairness, compassion and respect."

Grayling is also set to publish a Bill today (17 July) to deliver the next phase of HS2, from the West Midlands to the West Coast Main Line south of Crewe.

The transport secretary will also confirm the final Phase 2b route, from Crewe to Manchester and Birmingham to the East Midlands and Leeds.