Bradford city centre could see the building of a new hub railway station that has the potential to boost the region’s economy by £1.5 billion, said new research from consultancy and construction business Mace. Conducted by senior ex-Treasury economist Christ Walker, the research has examined the impact of building a
Network Rail is set to be stripped of its full control of railways in England’s as part of a major government shake-up. Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, has announced that he intends to bring track and train operations back together, handing train operators greater influence over the work that takes place
Three construction consortiums have secured up to £900 million worth of contracts for the first phase of HS2. Included in the enabling works deals are archaeological investigations, site clearance and the setting up of construction compounds before the main civil engineering work gets under way. The successful firms are: •
The preferred bidders for the first three contracts to build the £55.7 billion HS2 rail line have been chosen. It is understood that joint ventures between Costain / Skanska, Morgan Sindall / Bam Nuttall / Ferrovial and Laing O’Rourke / Murphy have been chosen as the successful bidders for the
Bradford city centre could see the building of a new hub railway station that has the potential to boost the region’s economy by £1.5 billion, said new research from consultancy and construction business Mace. Conducted by senior ex-Treasury economist Christ Walker, the research has examined the impact of building a new railway hub in Bradford city centre as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail line to improve east-west connectivity from Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds and Hull. Using data on growth in Birmingham following the construction of the new Birmingham New Street Station, the report has explored how securing a Northern Powerhouse Rail hub in the centre of Bradford could transform the local economy, create jobs and unlock housing and business growth. Moreover, the estimated result of having a new railway station in Bradford as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail could add a £1.1 billion to £1.5 billion a year economic uplift to the local and Northern economy and support the creation of more than 1,000 jobs. “For Bradford, direct connections across the North will mean more investment coming into the city and residents will greatly benefit from the regeneration this will kick-start across the district whilst also supporting the wider economic contributions to the North’s economy,” said Lisa Bowden, head of infrastructure in the North at Mace. “Mace is backing Bradford’s campaign for Northern Powerhouse Rail as we believe this is a truly once in a generation opportunity to change the city for the better, boosting economic growth, supporting the regeneration in the city and supporting the young and dynamic residents and businesses that call the city home, both now and in the future,” she added. Launched at a workshop hosted by Mace Group in partnership with City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, the ‘Bradford Bonus’ report was seen by key transport leaders from both organisations, as well as by Transport for the North, West Yorkshire Combined Authority and the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.
Network Rail is set to be stripped of its full control of railways in England’s as part of a major government shake-up. Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary, has announced that he intends to bring track and train operations back together, handing train operators greater influence over the work that takes place on the rail lines throughout the country. At present, the UK’s track infrastructure is solely owned and maintained by Network Rail, which is publicly owned, with trains and services operated by private train operating companies such as Virgin and Southern. However, Mr Grayling has called for a change, with both track and trains to be managed by “one joined-up team of people”. Under the changes, Network Rail and train operating staff will be integrated into operating teams for renewal and maintenance work. It is not yet clear how much control Network Rail will have over the tracks – as is the make-up of the teams. Mr Grayling is also expected to reveal plans to create a organisation, separate to Network Rail, called East West Rail. This will oversee the construction and operation of a rebuilt multi-million-pound train line linking Oxford to Cambridge. This will be the first fully integrated rail operation created since the end of British Rail in 1994, and will be tasked with securing private sector design, build and management of the route. The move will be a step away from the way major enhancement projects, which are usually delivered on the UK’s rail lines through Network Rail’s Infrastructure Projects Division. Last month, the chancellor Philip Hammond gave £100m to the speed up the delivery of the western section of East West Rail between Cambridge and Bedford, and a further £10m to develop a preferred route from Bedford to Oxford. Network Rail chief executive Mark Carne has welcomed the changes, saying more needed to be done to align incentives between the organisation and train operating companies.
Three construction consortiums have secured up to £900 million worth of contracts for the first phase of HS2. Included in the enabling works deals are archaeological investigations, site clearance and the setting up of construction compounds before the main civil engineering work gets under way. The successful firms are: • Area South – CS JV (Costain Group Plc, Skanska Construction UK Ltd) • Area Central – Fusion JV (Morgan Sindall Plc, BAM Nuttall Ltd, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Ltd) • Area North – LM JV (Laing O’Rourke Construction Ltd, J Murphy & Sons Ltd) Transport Secretary Chris Grayling also revealed the preferred route for Phase Two of HS2 from Crewe to Manchester, and from the West Midlands to Leeds. On the western section of the scheme, a previously proposed rolling stock depot at Golborne will be relocated to a site north of Crewe, while the approach to Manchester Piccadilly will move 370 metres eastwards with the northern tunnel portal in Ardwick. Furthermore, the Middlewich – Northwich area route will move 800 metres to the west. On the eastern leg, there are plans to move the route to the east of Measham in Leicestershire; to go around instead of tunnel under East Midlands Airport; to amend the alignment of the preferred route as it passes through Long Eaton to reduce severance in the local community and reduce impacts on the highway network and existing rail infrastructure; and to move the alignment of the route from Derbyshire to West Yorkshire. Minister Grayling commented: “HS2 is an ambitious and exciting project and we must seize the opportunity it offers to transform our country for future generations. The route decision I have published today takes us an important step closer to realising the full potential of HS2.” Leeds City Council Leader Judith Blake welcomed the preferred route option as well as plans to redevelop Leeds Station. She said: “This is very welcome news not only to provide further confidence that HS2 will be completed in its entirety but also to offer certainty in that everyone can now know exactly where and how it will come into Leeds. That is hugely important as now planning at all levels can be carried out in an informed way around HS2, what it means and where it will go.”
The preferred bidders for the first three contracts to build the £55.7 billion HS2 rail line have been chosen. It is understood that joint ventures between Costain / Skanska, Morgan Sindall / Bam Nuttall / Ferrovial and Laing O’Rourke / Murphy have been chosen as the successful bidders for the three phase one enabling packages worth a combined total of £900 million. Last December, the shortlist for the £300 million enabling packages was revealed, with five consortiums battling it out for each of the North, Central and South sections of the line. It is understood that Costain / Skanska has won the southern section of the line, Laing O’Rourke / Murphy has scooped the northern section and Morgan Sindall / Bam Nuttall / Ferrovial’s Fusion JV will take on the central section. The procurement process is now set to go into a period of standstill, with official contracts set to be awarded in the next few weeks if there are no challenges. Major joint ventures between Balfour Beatty / Vinci and Carillion / Eiffage / Kier missed out on all three lots, while Bouygues / Sir Robert McAlpine / Morrison Utility Services / VolkerFitzpatrick and Galliford Try / Hochtief / Dragados missed out on one each. Included in the work will be site clearances, structural reinforcements, demolition, drainage and other associated work. The work is due to get underway early next year. The award of the enabling contract has come almost two months later than scheduled, with companies having initially expected a decision to be made on HS2 in August. Last week, companies submitted bids for the first of the seven civil packages, worth a total of £11.8 billion. Bids for the remaining six packages will be submitted between now and Christmas. HS2 expects to award the civils packages in the spring, which have a combined value of £11.8bn.
