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Breaking news: Balfour Beatty wins £2.5bn HS2 contracts

Construction leader Balfour Beatty has been awarded two prestigious contracts by High Speed 2 (HS2), worth a combined total of c. £2.5 billion.

HS2 is the 190 km high speed line linking London with Birmingham and the West Coast Main Line near Lichfield and is planned to open in 2026 and will increase capacity and improve journey times between these two cities and bring economic growth to the Midlands.

British multinational infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, which specialises in construction services, support services and infrastructure investments, has won the deal via its 50:50 joint venture with VINCI - the business well known for its work on France’s High Speed Tours-Bordeaux project.

The two firms will deliver Lot N1, valued at c. £1.32 billion, and Lot N2, valued at c. £1.15 billion, between the Long Itchington Wood Green tunnel to the Delta Junction / Birmingham Spur and from the Delta Junction to the West Coast Main Line tie-in respectively, in a two-part design and build contract.

The joint venture will deliver one of Britain’s largest infrastructure projects in decades, creating thousands of jobs and supporting the economic growth of the country.

Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive, said: “This is a generational engineering project. HS2 will provide vital infrastructure not only to rebalance the economy, but also to fuel growth in skills, jobs and prosperity across the UK for the future.

“Balfour Beatty’s joint venture with VINCI has world-class capability in this area and our selection as preferred bidder for two sections is a major endorsement of our strength.”

Main construction work is scheduled to start in 2018/19, following a period of detailed design work.

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