Final go-ahead for HS2
MPs have given their final consent for work to begin of the HS2 high speed rail link between Manchester, Birmingham and London,
The project, estimated at £56bn, will now get under way next year – provided consent is granted by the House of Lords.
The Bill paving the way for the new railway passed through the Commons on its third reading last night – although 44 MPs opposed the move.
One of those was Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant through whose constituency the line will pass. He has queried the connectivity of the new route, although he said he remains an advocate of high speed rail.
One work starts next year it is expected to take 10 years to complete but when open, passengers will be able to travel between the first and second cities in just 49 minutes.
An extension of the high speed network to Manchester and Leeds, dubbed HS3, will follow and is scheduled for completion in 2032.
The decision came on the day Birmingham-based HS2 Ltd, which is delivering the massive project, announced significant progress on the design and development of the line, including a shortlist of companies in the race to win a package of work which will create up to 14,600 jobs and apprenticeships across the UK.
Through these major contracts, and the National College for High Speed Rail at Birmingham and Doncaster, HS2 said it was creating high quality careers and giving young people the skills and experience needed to capitalise on the opportunities.
The shortlist of nine bidders will share civil engineering contracts worth between £7.1 and £11.8bn. The contracts are expected to be signed in 2017 with the start of work on site one year later.
The following bidders have been shortlisted for at least one package each: Align Joint Venture (Bouygues, VolkerFitzpatrick, Sir Robert McAlpine); ASL (Acciona Infraestructuras, John Sisk & Son, Lagan); BBV (Balfour Beatty, VINCI BeMo);Catalyst (Bechtel); CEK (Carillion, Eiffage, Kier); Fusion (Morgan Sindall, BAM Nuttall, Ferrovial Agroman); LFM (Laing O’Rourke, FCC Construccion, J. Murphy and Sons Limited; Momentum Infrastructure (Dragados, HOCHTIEF, GallifordTry) and SCS (Skanska, Costain, STRABAG).
Firms which deliver the best results in terms of value and efficiency will be eligible to bid for work on an additional 40 miles between Birmingham and Crewe, due to open in 2027.
