Firms winning £6.6bn-worth of contracts for design and preparation works revealed by government

The government has revealed the winners of the contracts for the design and construction preparation works for the first phase of the UK’s High Speed Rail 2 network (HS2).

Along with phase two the work is worth nearly £7bn, and will lead to the creation of around 16,000 jobs, the government said.

The second stage of the works – the actual construction – is expected to start in 2019, with inaugural train services expected to start in 2026.

The tender shortlist for the first phase of the main civil engineering works contracts, comprising bridges, tunnels, embankments and viaducts, was put out in March of last year. The winners are:

Area South

S1: Euston Tunnels and Approaches – SCS JV (Skanska, Costain, Strabag)

S2: Northolt Tunnels – SCS JV (Skanska, Costain, Strabag)

Area Central

C1: Chiltern Tunnels and Colne Valley Viaduct – Align JV (Bouygues Travaux Publics, VolkerFitzpatrick, Sir Robert McAlpine)

C2: North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley – CEK JV (Carillion, Eiffage Genie Civil, Kier)

C3: Brackley to South Portal of Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel – CEK JV (Carillion, Eiffage Genie Civil, Kier)

Area North

N1: Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel to Delta Junction and Birmingham Spur – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty, Vinci)

N2: Delta Junction to WCML Tie-In – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty, Vinci)

 

HS2 Ltd, the company overseeing the £57bn project, is understood to have sough assurances from Eiffage and Kier that they could carry out the work in the event of Carillion being unable to fulfill its part in the CEK JV. Last week Carillion revealed it would be taking an £845m hit on a number of PPP and other contracts.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the expected total value of the contracts including both stage one and stage two – the full construction phase – was £6.6bn, on current estimates.

“HS2 stations at Euston, Old Oak Common and in Birmingham will be central to HS2 and the work needed to develop designs is also well underway. Last week, both the invitations to tender for the station design services contracts for all four phase one stations and the invitation to participate in dialogue for a Euston Master Development Partner were released to shortlisted bidders.

“These are significant milestones. They show how progress is continuing at pace in order to deliver stations that will be embraced by the local communities, drive economic growth and provide seamless journeys for passengers,” he added.

Speaking about his firm’s work on the line, Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty’s 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.”

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