The HS2 route runs 140 miles from London to Birmingham, with four stations along the way: London Euston, Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange, and Birmingham Curzon Street. High Speed 2 (HS2) is Britain's second purpose-built high-speed railway, designed for trains travelling at up to 225 mph.
That 140-mile stretch is what remains of something far more ambitious. Back in 2012, the plan was a Y-shaped network reaching from London to both Manchester and Leeds, serving 11 cities in total. Two rounds of cancellations, in 2021 and 2023, cut the project down to its current form.
Here's what happened to each phase:
One thing worth noting: HS2 trains will still run to Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow. They'll just use the existing West Coast Main Line after leaving Birmingham, rather than dedicated high-speed track.
This blog includes three custom Google Maps showing how the HS2 network has changed over time. Each map uses the same Phase 1 route as a base, with different features highlighted. Scroll through all three to see the full picture.
This map shows the HS2 route as it stands today. It includes the four Phase 1 stations, tunnel entrances, the route line from London to Birmingham, and pins marking notable cost stories with figures in their descriptions. Click any pin to see the detail.
London Euston is the long-term London terminus for HS2. Tunnelling from Old Oak Common started in January 2026, with the tunnel boring machine named "Helen" after Helen Sharman, Britain's first astronaut.
The station budget has grown considerably over time. Original estimates put the cost at £2.6bn. Current projections now exceed £7.5bn. The scope is still being finalised following the Phase 2 cancellations.
Old Oak Common will be the interim London terminus when HS2 first opens, and it's the most complex interchange on the entire route. The station has six HS2 platforms and two conventional platforms.
From here, passengers can connect to the Elizabeth line, Great Western Main Line, and Heathrow Express. That makes Old Oak Common a major hub for anyone transferring between HS2 and other rail services across London and the South East.
Birmingham Interchange sits near Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), and the M42 motorway. Unlike the terminus stations, this is a through station where trains stop briefly before continuing on.
A people mover is planned to link the station with Birmingham Airport and the existing Birmingham International station. The location positions it as a gateway for both business and leisure travellers heading to the Midlands.
Birmingham Curzon Street is the first new intercity terminus built in Britain since the 19th century. The station has seven platforms and is designed to be net zero in operation.
Mace and Dragados hold the joint venture contract, worth £570m. The Grade I listed Old Curzon Street Station building from 1838 is being incorporated into the new design, so a piece of railway heritage will sit within the modern terminus.
Washwood Heath houses the Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot and Network Integrated Control Centre. This facility is essentially the nerve centre from which the entire HS2 network will be operated.
A £275m contract was shortlisted in 2024, with three bidders competing: Gulermak, VolkerFitzpatrick/VolkerRail, and Vinci/Keltbray. The depot will maintain the Hitachi-Alstom trains running on the line.
This map highlights the major engineering works and specific obligations along the route: tunnels, viaducts, bridges, and the cost examples that illustrate where the money went. It covers the Chiltern Tunnel, Colne Valley Viaduct, the £119m Sheephouse Wood bat structure, and more.
HS2 is building 32 miles of twin-bore tunnels and more than 50 viaducts along the Phase 1 route. Some of these structures rank among the largest civil engineering projects in Europe.
The Chiltern Tunnel stretches 10 miles beneath the Chiltern Hills, making it the longest tunnel on the HS2 route. Both tunnel boring machines have now completed their drives, marking a major construction milestone.
The Euston Tunnel runs 4.5 miles from Old Oak Common to London Euston. The tunnel boring machine launched in January 2026. Cost estimates put this section at approximately £1bn in 2019 prices.
The Northolt Tunnel passes through west London suburbs between Old Oak Common and the Colne Valley. Building through such a densely populated area required careful planning to minimise disruption.
The Bromford Tunnel extends 3.5 miles on the approach to Birmingham from the east. Twin-bore construction means two separate tunnels carry trains in each direction.
The Long Itchington Wood Tunnel runs 1 mile beneath ancient woodland in Warwickshire. The tunnel was specifically designed to preserve the woodland above, avoiding any surface-level construction through the protected area.
The Colne Valley Viaduct spans 3.4km across lakes and rivers northwest of London. It's the longest railway bridge in the UK. Align JV, a consortium of Bouygues, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick, built the structure.
The Sheephouse Wood Bat Protection Structure near Calvert, Buckinghamshire, runs 1km alongside Sheephouse Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The structure costs £119m.
HS2's own chairman stated there is "no evidence that high-speed trains interfere with bats." Even so, the project took four years of engagement before Buckinghamshire Council's refusal was overridden by the Planning Inspector.
The cost story pins on map 2 highlight specific examples of HS2 expenditure. A few cases stand out for illustrating the complexity and expense of building major infrastructure through established communities.
The St James's Gardens exhumation at Euston became Europe's largest archaeological dig, with over 20,000 bodies requiring careful removal and reburial. Meanwhile, the Fox and Grapes pub in Birmingham, a Grade II listed building, was demolished after HS2 reversed its own plan to preserve it.
St Mary's Church in Wendover was offered £250k for noise insulation. The congregation told the Select Committee they actually needed £2m to adequately protect the historic building.
This map shows the full Y-shaped network as planned in 2012: London to Birmingham, splitting northwest to Manchester and northeast to Leeds. All cancelled stations are shown: Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly, Manchester Airport, East Midlands Hub (Toton), Leeds, Sheffield, and York. Compare this to Map 1 to see how the network shrank from 11 planned cities to 4 stations on 140 miles of track.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps cancelled the Birmingham to Leeds eastern leg in November 2021. Sheffield, York, and the East Midlands Parkway station at Toton all dropped from the network.
The route was officially "safeguarded" but received no funding. In practice, that meant the land remained protected for potential future use, though no construction would proceed.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled all remaining Phase 2 at the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The announcement removed Crewe Hub, Manchester Piccadilly HS2, and Manchester Airport HS2 from the network.
This reduced HS2 from an 11-city network to a 4-station, 140-mile railway. The cancellation came despite significant preparatory work already completed on the northern sections.
HS2 Ltd publishes tenders through Find a Tender and its own supplier portal. However, Tier 1 contractors including Balfour Beatty, Vinci, and Skanska subcontract significant work packages through arrangements like the Rail Systems Alliance. That means many opportunities never appear on the main HS2 portal or on Contracts Finder.
Stotles aggregates HS2-related procurement from multiple sources into a single feed through its open tender tracking feature. Buyer intelligence reveals which organisations are commissioning work, what they have purchased previously, and which suppliers currently hold contracts or framework agreements. For HS2, that includes both HS2 Ltd directly and the major joint ventures delivering construction packages.
Contract history shows the value and scope of previous awards, helping suppliers identify patterns in how work packages are structured and which types of organisations win them. That intelligence directly supports the bid no-bid process for each opportunity.
Tip: HS2 subcontracting often happens through Tier 1 contractors rather than HS2 Ltd directly. Tracking awards to the main joint ventures, alongside published pipeline notices, can reveal upcoming supply chain opportunities before they reach public tender portals.
