Swedish construction company Skanska, as part of the Skanska Costain Strabag joint venture, has announced receipt of a further £78m contract to carry out works on the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway line in the UK.

The latest award has been provided under the existing contract with HS2 for works on first phase of the project.

Furthermore, the contract is associated with the planned and agreed changes to the scope of works under the original award.

The latest contract value will be included by the company in its order bookings for Europe in Q2 2022.

In April 2020, Skanska, as part of the joint venture, entered a contract with HS2 for the complete detailed design and construction of major tunnels in the approach to the London terminus at Euston station.

This total contract was valued at £1.2bn for Skanska. Works are anticipated to be completed in 2026.

Significant progress has been achieved on the project after giving the notice to proceed by HS2 in April 2020, claimed Skanska.

The progress includes undertaking of extensive earthworks, and operations to assemble the first tunnel boring machine for launch this summer.

Construction has been undertaken of major structures such as a new rail transportation logistics hub, which is expected to help remove one million lorry journeys from London’s roads.

At present, 3,500 people are employed to work on this section of the project.