HS2 restarts procurement process for £435m Curzon Street Station

The clearing work for HS2 in Birmingham has already begun

HS2 has cancelled its original procurement strategy for Curzon Street Station in Birmingham due to lack of interest.

The government body behind England’s high-speed rail project has now launched what it calls a fresh approach and has organised an Industry Day at Birmingham City University next week to share the new process with prospective contractors.

HS2, which has created 9,000 jobs already across its UK-wide supply chain, said that taking more time now, would help it deliver contracts which, in the long-term, would deliver best value for HS2, the taxpayer and the contractor.

The original procurement process was launched in November 2018 but HS2 also said there would be no change to the current planned opening date of 2026, and the award of the contract for Curzon Street was still set for 2020, despite the procurement pause and re-plan.

In an advertisement calling for applications for the Industry Day, HS2 said it had listened to market feedback from the original procurement and believed the new approach would attract more bidders, reduce risks and thereby produce a more competitive process.

A notice posted on the Official Journal of the European Union said: “HS2 have recognised the current market conditions are challenging and the increasing concern regarding risk transfer and wanted to revise our position to provide a better balance and overall outcome.

“The industry day will provide an opportunity to re-engage with the market and outline our revised strategy which we believe will attract a larger number of bidders, reduce risk and thereby produce a more competitive process.”

HS2 said it was looking for an integrated approach to the design and construction of the station in the Birmingham’s city centre, and the new procurement approach had been designed to enable this and “maximise the synergies that may arise”.

“The stations will not only meet the functional requirements of a high-speed railway, but will be designed and delivered to make new places with integrated public realms and transport connections to help facilitate regeneration”

HS2 has been the catalyst for regeneration in the Eastide area of the city and as part of a £2bn rail package major improvements have been planned for the nearby Moor Street station that would integrate it with Curzon Street station.

Raj Kandola, Senior Policy & Patron Advisor at the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said: “Delivering value for money is a key priority for the project, so it makes sense for HS2 to take a step back and review the procurement process for Curzon Street.

“Also, let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture here; the programme is already supporting thousands of jobs in our region and its success will underpin a range of projects which will bring prosperity to the Midlands and help rebalance the economy as a whole.”

However, uncertainty still dogs the HS2 project with prospective new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson saying in a TV debate on the Conservative Party leadership this week with rival Jeremy Hunt that HS2 “should not be abandoned but it should be examined and there should be a review”.

Also this week, a Westminster Hall debate heard former Commons leader Andrea Leadsom claim the bill for the high-speed rail line could spiral to £100bn with transport minister Nusrat Ghani saying she was “confident the official budget of is £55.7bn is still accurate”.

Liam Byrne, Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, who is a supporter of HS2 but a critic of the current Curzon Street station designs, said the Midlands risked being pushed into recession unless the project went ahead.

But Victoria Prentis, Conservative MP for Banbury, said she did not feel that £100bn was worth creating some jobs in Birmingham and that “HS2 is a white elephant that is trampling over the dreams and aspirations of my constituents and I cannot support it”.

This Industry Day is being held at BCU on Friday 19 July 2019 from 9am to 1pm.

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