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Author Topic: HS2 - Government proposals, alternative routes and general discussion  (Read 393903 times)
SandTEngineer
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« Reply #630 on: July 17, 2017, 11:49:13 »

Major HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) construction contracts announced today (17/07/2017): http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/07/17/winners-revealed-for-6-6bn-hs2-phase-one/

Quote
Winners of £6.6bn worth of major construction contracts for HS2 Phase One were confirmed by the Government today.

Transport secretary Chris Grayling confirmed the deals which will see the route reach Birmingham by 2026.

Plans were also confirmed to extend the route from Birmingham to the north west, East Midlands and Yorkshire.


The winning contractors for Phase One are:

Area South
•Euston Tunnels and Approaches – SCS JV (Skanska Construction UK (United Kingdom) Ltd, Costain Ltd, STRABAG AG)
•Northolt Tunnels – SCS JV (Skanska Construction UK Ltd, Costain Ltd, STRABAG AG)

Area Central
•Chiltern Tunnels and Colne Valley Viaduct – Align JV (Bouygues Travaux Publics, VolkerFitzpatrick, Sir Robert McAlpine)
•North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley – CEK JV (Carillion Construction Ltd, Eiffage Genie Civil SA, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd)
•Brackley to South Portal of Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel – CEK JV (Carillion Construction Ltd, Eiffage Genie Civil SA, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas Ltd)

Area North
•Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel to Delta Junction and Birmingham Spur – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement)
•Delta Junction to WCML (West Coast Main Line) Tie-In – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement)

Preparatory works are already underway, with main construction work starting in 2018/19 following a period of detailed design work.

Grayling said: “This is a hugely important step in the construction of Britain’s new railway and underlines this government’s determination to deliver an economy that works for all.”

David Higgins, Chairman of HS2 Ltd, said: “This is a huge day for the HS2 project and for the country. These contracts will support 16,000 jobs here in Britain and will create opportunities for thousands of SMEs.”

In total, construction of the full HS2 route to the north-west and Yorkshire will create up to 25,000 jobs and 2,000 apprenticeships.

Balfour Beatty and VINCI said its joint venture deals were worth a combined £2.5bn.

Mark Cutler, Balfour Beatty VINCI Managing Director for HS2, said: “This iconic rail infrastructure project will create significant opportunities for the UK construction industry and will drive growth in skills, jobs and prosperity.

“We look forward to building on our successful track record delivering high profile projects, and help to engineer Britain’s second great railway age”.

Carillion said its joint venture deals with Eiffage and Kier were worth a total of £1.2bn.

It added: “These Lots will be awarded in two stages.

“Stage One will be a 16-month period to develop a design, a programme and a Target Cost for the construction of the works.

“Stage Two is the construction of the main works and this is expected to take between four and five years to complete.”

Nine consortia were shortlisted for the work in March 2016 when the total contract value was estimated at between £7.1bn – £11.8bn.

The consortia to miss out were: ASL (Acciona Infraestructuras, John Sisk & Son, Lagan Construction Group), Catalyst (Bechtel), Fusion (Morgan Sindall Construction and Infrastructure,BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Agroman (UK), LFM (Laing O’Rourke Construction, FCC (First Capital Connect) Construccion,J. Murphy and Sons) and Momentum Infrastructure (Dragados, Hochtief Infrastructure, GallifordTry Infrastructure).
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Rhydgaled
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« Reply #631 on: July 17, 2017, 12:05:42 »

Quote
Area North
•Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel to Delta Junction and Birmingham Spur – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK (United Kingdom) Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement)
•Delta Junction to WCML (West Coast Main Line) Tie-In – BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group Ltd, VINCI Construction Grands Projets, VINCI Construction UK Ltd, VINCI Construction Terrassement)
Sounds like the death knell of any hope of a properly integrated HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) to address the north-south divide instead of the London-centric broken-Y network which will only waste electricity and lead to a need for HS3 and HS4 from London to York (ECML (East Coast Main Line) relief) and London to Bristol (GWML (Great Western Main Line) relief). Too late to do anything about it now?
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« Reply #632 on: July 17, 2017, 13:22:50 »

Sorry, I don't understand why splitting the construction of a railway into separate contracts has any bearing on future plans.  The first phase of HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) is now fairly well defined, by means of what has been approved by Parliament. 
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broadgage
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« Reply #633 on: July 17, 2017, 17:13:03 »

I think that the time has come to actually build it.
We have had years of studies, reviews and consultations, and eventually the day comes to say "enough of studying and consulting, get on and build it"

Hopefully it will go better than the GWR (Great Western Railway) electrification !
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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.
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« Reply #634 on: July 17, 2017, 17:37:41 »

That is indeed what is happening and the letting of contracts demonstrates that. Enabling work should start later this year (Ie the diversion of utilities, tree felling etc). I'm sure there will be Swampy type resistance in places, but Phase 1 is now unstoppable).
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #635 on: July 17, 2017, 17:46:27 »

Probably the most expensive white elephant in history.
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #636 on: July 17, 2017, 18:12:24 »

Here is the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) Press Release for the new routes announced today (17/07/2017): https://www.gov.uk/government/news/huge-economic-boost-for-the-north-of-england-as-transport-secretary-confirms-hs2-routes

Quote
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling today (17 July 2017) confirmed Britain’s high speed rail lines to the north-west, East Midlands and Yorkshire.

The decision will mean new connections between Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and the East Midlands – with all of them being linked to London by the line.

It is set to bring a massive economic boost for the north and the Midlands by increasing productivity and creating new business opportunities.

And the new line will free up thousands of extra seats and additional services on local lines. New research shows the impact of HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) could more than double rush hour seats from Manchester Piccadilly towards Stoke and Crewe; and from Leeds towards Wakefield. It could also almost double peak seats from London to Peterborough and east coast destinations further north.

Today’s announcement will mean journeys from Birmingham to Manchester in 40 minutes – a trip that takes more than 80 minutes on services currently.

By providing new routes for intercity services, HS2 will free-up space on our existing railways for new commuter, regional and freight services, taking lorries off our roads.

HS2 Phase One and Phase Two map.


Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said:

Britain’s new railway line will bring huge economic benefits across the country and help ensure this government delivers on its promise to spread wealth beyond London and the south-east.

But as well as creating skilled jobs, apprenticeships and business opportunities, it will also mean real day-to-day improvements for people across the country.

By building a whole new railway line for high-speed intercity connections, we will free up local services, meaning more comfort, more seats and more trains for passengers across the north and the midlands.

We will now press ahead with building the line, while continuing to ensure affected communities get appropriate support and are treated with fairness, compassion and respect.

David Higgins, Chairman of HS2 Ltd said:

Today we have taken a huge step forward in connecting 8 of our largest cities, freeing up space on our railways and building a catalyst for growth across the country. Once completed 30 million people will be served by HS2 across over 25 stations, helping to change the economic geography of the country, and bring prosperity to the midlands, the north, and beyond.

The Transport Secretary also announced the decision to award the first stage of £6.6 billion worth of new contracts today – supporting 16,000 jobs across the country.

An upcoming bill for the section from the West Midlands to Crewe will effectively act as a planning application, with the line expected to open in 2027 if approved by Parliament.

Today’s announcements confirmed the new route for the eastern section and plans to serve the station in Sheffield city centre.

The government has also confirmed it will ensure homeowners on the Shimmer estate in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, can secure a comparable local home.

The government has also asked HS2 Ltd to take forward the provision of a northern junction back on to HS2, which would support delivery of a city-centre to city-centre connection between Leeds-Sheffield in less than 30 minutes as part of Northern Powerhouse Rail.

New plans for the route to Crewe include:  the possibility of building a new hub station in Crewe to improve connections across the north-west potentially introducing HS2 services to Stoke

The government remains on track to open the link from London to Birmingham in 2026, the route to Crewe in 2027 and the routes to the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Manchester in 2033. Preparatory work on Phase One has already commenced, with major construction starting in 2018 to 2019.
« Last Edit: July 17, 2017, 18:53:56 by SandTEngineer » Logged
JayMac
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« Reply #637 on: July 17, 2017, 18:38:41 »

Two things with Carillion.

One is whether they'll be around for the length of the contract. They're in a parlous financial state at the moment. Looking to arrange a debt-for-equity swap or rights issue to avoid bankruptcy or emergency takeover. They have though recently managed to screw an extra £10m out of Somerset taxpayers. That though is a very small fillip. They're debt is currently around £700m. They'll be hoping for heavy front loading from this government contract.

Second is I hope they're better at building railways, on time and on budget, than roads. The recently opened Taunton Inner Distributor Road, for which they were lead contractor, was two years late opening and nearly 50% over budget. £31m final bill picked up by Somerset County Council instead of £21m.
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #638 on: July 17, 2017, 18:43:51 »

Two things with Carillion.

One is whether they'll be around for the length of the contract. They're in a parlous financial state at the moment. Despite screwing an extra £10m out of Somerset taxpayers.

Second is I hope they're better at building railways, on time and on budget, than roads. The recently opened Taunton Inner Distributor Road, for which they were lead contractor, was two years late opening and nearly 50% over budget. £31m final bill instead of £21m.

I hope you're not suggesting that a major railway infrastructure projects could end up massively delayed and/or overspent?

Surely that would never happen?  Cheesy
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SandTEngineer
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« Reply #639 on: July 17, 2017, 18:56:50 »

I'm sure in a 9 year build programme that there will be comings and goings of various contractors and sub-contractors.  Thats nothing new.  Have a look at various early railway builds where contractors went bust and were replaced or the build was taken back 'in house' Wink

The other major factor is its much easier to build on a 'green field' site than an existing railway.  HS1 (High Speed line 1 - St Pancras to Channel Tunnel) is evidence of that.

.....and, of course, Network Rail won't be allowed to go anywhere near the HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) project..... Tongue Wink

Now then, what about the 'Far Southwest Powerhouse' Dawlish Avoiding Line...whoops, thread drift... Roll Eyes Tongue
« Last Edit: July 17, 2017, 19:35:24 by SandTEngineer » Logged
Rhydgaled
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« Reply #640 on: July 17, 2017, 20:58:31 »

Sorry, I don't understand why splitting the construction of a railway into separate contracts has any bearing on future plans.  The first phase of HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) is now fairly well defined, by means of what has been approved by Parliament. 
Were you are refering to my post, immediately before yours, where I said "the death knell of any hope of a properly integrated HS2"? If so, what I meant was that, now that contracts have been awarded for construction of the poorly-designed section, it is probably too late to fix the design.
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« Reply #641 on: July 17, 2017, 21:54:00 »

Yes, I was.  I thought it was the comment about the splitting of the contract that prompted the point.  The fact is though that the ship had long since sailed in terms of the design of Phase 1. Passing of the Act set everything in stone, but the reality is that the route etc was locked down a couple of years ago so cancellation was (what appears to have been) your only hope. 
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grahame
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« Reply #642 on: July 18, 2017, 07:24:54 »

Noting Birmingham to Leeds ... and noting comment in various places about Cross Country being fast from the South West to Birmingham, taking an age from Birmingham to Leeds / York, then being fast again ...  would anyone care to comment on a really long distance direct service from the South West to North East and Scotland to compete with airlines?
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« Reply #643 on: July 18, 2017, 07:55:27 »

Bristol-Newcastle 0800 direct Easyjet £30 I hour
Bristol-Newcastle 0830 Cross Country £159 5 hours

End.Of.Contest.
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eightf48544
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« Reply #644 on: July 18, 2017, 08:36:18 »

I am not against building a high speed line but I have several reservations about the current plans.

Top speed 360 kph seems unnecessarily high and require more robust infrastructure and with the much shorter distance the higher speed amounts to only a few minutes faster journey.


I like the link through Sheffield and the connections to the WCML (West Coast Main Line) to give through trains to Stafford Crewe Liverpool even Blackpool!

However I think the terminal station in Birmingham is a White Elephant, difficult to get to. If I lived in teh West Midalsnd and used a train to get to New Street am I going to go to New Street walk to Curzon Street to save a few minutes to London when I can change at New Street save the walk still arrive in Euston.

Where is Birmingham Interchange is it served by the exising railway?

Birmingham should have had a through station under New Street connecting by tunnel with the existing Network. if they can tunnel through the Chilterns then it should be possible to tunnel under the Balk Country. 

The terminal stations in Manchester and Leeds are not quite as bad  as they are closer to the main station.  However they should still be through stations. That would save the junctions from HS2 (The next High Speed line(s)) for the Wigan and York Spurs . It would also mean HS (High Speed (short for HSS (High Speed Services) High Speed Services))£ could connect across North of Manchester and South of Leeds.

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