HS2 Ltd has awarded a £856m contract to a joint venture of Taylor Woodrow Infrastructure and Aureos Rail to construct the high-speed railway’s rolling stock maintenance depot and control centre in Birmingham.
The facility will be built on a 70ha site in Washwood Heath, to the east of the new Birmingham Curzon Street station. This was formerly the site of rolling stock and light van manufacturing factories and was most recently occupied by Cemex to produce concrete sleepers.
The new depot will cover around 30ha and will include a maintenance hall capable of accommodating 200m-long trains, a train washing plant, an automatic train inspection facility, stabling sidings and a test track. There will also be offices and facilities for cleaners and drivers.
The HS2 Network Integrated Control Centre (NICC) will be used to manage the dispatch of trains and communicate with drivers.
The remaining area will be released for commercial development and used to create a new wildlife habitat.
