Rail industry welcomes HS2 reaching 9,000 jobs milestone

23 May 2019


HS2 Ltd have announced today that the new high speed railway project is supporting 9,000 jobs across the UK.

Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Railway Industry Association, said: “RIA welcomes this exciting milestone. It is clear that HS2 is being delivered as planned, creating thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of GVA around the country.

“For every pound currently spent on rail, over £2.20 of income is generated in the wider economy. So when HS2 Phase 1 from London to Birmingham is completed, not only will we radically improve connectivity across the UK, but the whole economy will benefit too. 

“The next stage is to ensure HS2 Phase 2 from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester secures Royal Assent, and connects to Northern Powerhouse Rail. This will ensure this truly world-class railway links the great cities of the midlands, north and south, benefiting UK plc, passengers, freight users and the economy, in the years ahead.”

Notes to Editors

  1. The announcement of HS2 reaching the milestone of 9,000 jobs can be found here. 
  2. About RIA: The Railway Industry Association (RIA) is the voice of the UK rail supply community. We help to grow a sustainable, high-performing, railway supply industry, and to export UK rail expertise and products. We promote and represent our members’ interests to policy makers, clients and other stakeholders in the UK and overseas. RIA has 280+ companies in membership in a sector that contributes £36 billion in economic growth and £11 billion in tax revenue each year, as well as employing 600,000 people—more than the workforce of Birmingham. It is also a growing industry with the number of rail journeys expected to double over the next 25 years and freight set to grow significantly too. RIA’s membership is active across the whole of railway supply, covering a diverse range of products and services and including both multi-national companies and SMEs (60% by number). RIA works to promote the importance of the rail system to UK plc, to help export UK expertise around the globe and to share best practice and innovation across the industry