HS2 Ltd has successfully renegotiated contracts with two of the joint ventures responsible for building Britain’s new high-speed railway as part of the project’s ongoing reset.
The new commercial agreements have been signed with EKFB and Align, which together are delivering more than 100 km of the HS2 route between London and the West Midlands. The move marks a significant milestone in getting the project back on track while ensuring the remaining works are completed at the lowest reasonable cost.
The EKFB joint venture, comprising Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall, is delivering civil engineering works along an 80 km section of the railway between the northern portal of the Chiltern Tunnel in Buckinghamshire and Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire.
Meanwhile, Align, a joint venture formed by Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine and VolkerFitzpatrick, is constructing 24 km of the route through west London and south Buckinghamshire. Its key structures include the Colne Valley Viaduct and the Chiltern Tunnel, the longest structures of their kind on the HS2 network.
New HS2 contracts aim to cut costs and improve project delivery
The previous contracting model for the civil engineering works was established before construction officially began in 2020. It was later identified as one of the major issues preventing the project from being delivered efficiently.
The earlier contracts failed to encourage efficient delivery and placed almost all financial risk on UK taxpayers.
By 2024, the original budget of £15 billion (€17.4 billion) allocated in 2020 for the main civil engineering contracts on HS2 Phase One (London to the West Midlands) had already been exhausted, despite the works being far from complete.
The new agreements introduce a revised payment structure that rewards contractors for delivering projects on budget, controlling costs and meeting programme milestones.
The objective is to complete the railway at the lowest reasonable cost while supporting the UK Government’s £93.2 billion (€108.1 billion) funding ambition announced in May.
HS2 is currently at peak construction, employing more than 30,000 people across the project. All 46 miles (74 km) of twin-bore tunnels between Old Oak Common and Birmingham have now been excavated, around 108 million cubic metres of earthworks have been completed, and 177 bridges and viaducts are under construction.
Negotiations are also continuing with the project’s remaining civil engineering joint ventures. Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) is responsible for a 90 km section of the railway in the West Midlands, while Skanska Costain STRABAG is constructing the 21 km tunnel section between West Ruislip and Euston in London.
The HS2 reset programme will continue until spring 2027, when a new baseline programme and official delivery timetable for the UK’s high-speed railway will be finalised.
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