Phase Two of HS2 sees £500m design work up for grabs

HS2 Ltd has today published details of engineering design work worth up to £500m for developing detailed plans for Phase Two of the project, as part of a raft of announcements which included the shortlisting of companies in the race to win up to £11.8bn worth of civil engineering work.

The announcements include a shortlist of nine bidders for between £7.1 and £11.8 billion worth of civil engineering work between London and Crewe, the start of formal tendering for up to £900 million worth of enabling works and the start of the procurement process to grow several million trees to plant alongside the line. The shortlist of nine bidders for between £7.1 and £11.8 billion worth of civil engineering work are Align JV, ASL, Balfour Beatty VINCI BeMo (BBV), Catalyst, Carillion-Eiffage-Kier (CEK) JV, Fusion, LFM, Momentum Infrastructure and SCS. 

The Phase Two design work includes the Crewe to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds routes, ahead of a formal route decision on Phase Two, expected in the autumn. Applicants are expected to be shortlisted in the summer with the successful bidders appointed once the route has been announced.

Civil engineering contracts covering the 140 miles from London to Birmingham are expected to be signed in 2017 with the start of work on site one year later. Firms that 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.

The HS2 Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons today and now moves on to the Lords. Royal Assent is expected at the end of the year, with the start of construction in 2017.

HS2 Ltd Chief Executive Simon Kirby said: “Today’s announcements are a major milestone for the project. Over the next ten years HS2 will help create tens of thousands of job opportunities, build specialist skills and expertise across the country and create at least 2,000 new apprenticeships.

“Collaboration will be at the heart of everything we do. Together with our suppliers, we will create these opportunities while continuing to push for the best value and long term efficiency that will be essential to delivering this transformational project on time and on budget.”

HS2 Ltd also confirmed that it has invited seven joint ventures to formally tender for enabling work, preparing sites for the start of construction and carrying out essential pre-construction activity such as utilities diversions and archaeological surveys.

Additional work covering stations and railway systems will follow over the course of the next year. In total the first phase of the project is forecast to create 14,600 construction jobs and quality apprenticeships, the majority of which will be in civil engineering.