Bidding starts for £520m HS2 consultancy roles

HS2 Ltd has started the procurement process for £520m worth of consultancy work on phase two of the high speed rail project.

The client is looking for a development partner for the second phase of the project from Birmingham to Leeds and Manchester, a contract lasting 90 months and worth £170m. It is similar to the £70m phase one development partner role won by CH2M in 2012.

A CH2M-led joint venture also secured the £350m engineering delivery partner role on phase one, first revealed by Building and confirmed by HS2 Ltd this month.

HS2 Ltd is also tendering three civils design packages for phase two worth a combined £350m, with the Manchester leg worth £100m, the East Midlands and Leeds South leg also worth £100m, and the leg from Leeds Central to Leeds North worth £150m. All three contracts also have a 90-month duration.

The phase two development partner will project manage and support the development and submission of the phase two hybrid Bill in 2019, which HS2 hopes will achieve Royal Assent by late 2022.

However, the successful bidder will not be able to bid for any of the three lots of civils design and environment services packages that are also currently open for bidding as, according to the client, it would put them “in a position to determine their own performance and instruct themselves to carry out work which presents a clear conflict of interest.”

The civils design consultants will be required to produce engineering information in the form of models, plans, drawings, sections, schedules, technical reports and supporting information, plus construction cost estimates.