The firms coming from Dundee to Devon will be told £10bn worth of projects will be available on the initial stretch of high-speed railway from London and the West Midlands.

Building work is programmed to start at the turn of 2016/17 and take around nine and half years to deliver at a total targeted cost of £17.16bn, including rolling stock.

Phase one will see four major stations remodelled or built.
More than half the route will be in cuttings or tunnels, raising the scale of the civil engineering challenge.

It will also require around 100 bridges and viaducts.

HS2 chief executive Simon Kirby said:”The pace of HS2’s development is accelerating so we’re ready to hit the ground running, assuming Royal Assent in 2016.

“It is excellent to see such massive support and interest from industry in making the new north-south line a reality.

“To build HS2 between the West Midlands and London is a huge undertaking: £10bn worth of contracts and at peak construction we’ll be employing around 40,000 people to deliver the first part of this strategically important piece of infrastructure that is an investment in the country’s future stretching decades ahead.”

The bill to build and operate Phase One of HS2 is currently progressing through Parliament.

The next HS2 Supply Chain Conferences will be held in Manchester (23 October 2014)