HS2 Ltd has confirmed the winners of contracts worth a combined £3bn to provide track, signalling, communications and other systems for the 225km high-speed railway under construction between London, Birmingham and Handsacre Junction, which is due to open between 2029 and 2033.
The contracts will be signed after the completion of the statutory standstill period. HS2 also confirmed that the contracts include options to install systems on the extended line to London Euston, which the government confirmed would go ahead in October.
The winning contractors are:
Track systems, lots 1, 2 and 3
Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall joint venture
Ferrovial BAM will oversee design and construction of the track infrastructure, manage construction logistics and support the testing and commissioning phase. As well as the route from Old Oak Common in West London to the Curzon Street terminus in Birmingham, and the connection with the West Coast Main Line at Handsacre Junction, the contract includes the design and construction of the interchange with the Washwood Heath rolling stock maintenance depot, and the infrastructure maintenance depot at Calvert. HS2 will share this facility with the East West Rail project to reintroduce the railway between Oxford and Cambridge.
Voestalpine and Porr UK will deliver switches and crossings and the precast slab track under separate contracts awarded respectively in 2023 and 2020. Ferrovial BAM will coordinate design, logistics and installation. Rail will be supplied through Network Rail.
Joint ventures of Balfour Beatty, ETF and TSO (BBVT), Colas Rail and Rhomberg, Sersa, and Strabag were shortlisted for some or all of these contracts.
Overhead catenary systems (OCS)
Colas Rail
Colas Rail will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of the OCS. Colas Rail will deploy the V360 OCS design range from SNCF Network to develop the next stages of design for HS2 Ltd. This was the first design certified for 360km/h in Europe. BBVT was also shortlisted for this contract.
Command, Control, Signalling and Traffic Management (CCS & TM)
Siemens Mobility
HS2 will be equipped with Automatic Train Operation at Grade of Automation 2 (GoA2) over ETCS Level 2, HS2 Ltd confirmed to IRJ. Siemens will be responsible for design, manufacture, supply, installation, supervision, inspection, safety authorisation, testing, commissioning and maintenance of the CCS & TM systems until handover to trial operations as well as ongoing technical support services. Alstom and Hitachi were also shortlisted for this contract.
Operational telecommunications and security systems
Siemens Mobility
HS2 will be equipped with GSM-R and the contract includes the passive provision for an upgrade to the Future Railway Mobile Communication System (FRMCS), which is currently under development. Siemens will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, safety authorisation, testing, commissioning and initial maintenance of the operational telecommunication systems and the route wide security systems.
Third-party telecommunications
Hitachi Rail GTS and Telent Technology Services Joint Venture (TTJV)
TTJV will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, safety authorisation, testing, commissioning and initial maintenance of the systems, which will provide the mobile communications for customers to use, as well as the emergency services and the station data network. Around 2500km of optical fibre cabling will be laid for the project and spare capacity on the optical fibre network could also be sold to third party providers to help boost broadband access for more isolated rural communities.
Engineering management system
Siemens Mobility
Siemens will be responsible for design, manufacture, supply, installation, integration, testing, commissioning and maintenance of an integrated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (Scada) system that will be used across the whole network. It will also provide up to 25 years of technical support.
Two further contracts for tunnel and lineside mechanical and electrical and high-voltage power supply have also been awarded, but the winner’s identities are being held back until the contract signing.
Alstom, a joint venture of Balfour Beatty and NG Bailey, and Costain were shortlisted for the tunnel and lineside contact while four bidders were shortlisted for the power contract: a joint venture of Colas and Eiffage, France; a joint venture of Siemens and Costain, Britain; UK Power Networks Services, Britain; and a joint venture of SSE Enterprise Contracting, Britain, Linxon, Switzerland, and Arcadis, Netherlands.
Rail Systems Alliance
HS2 Ltd says the main rail systems contractors will be brought together under a collaborative Rail Systems Alliance. The alliance structure is designed to manage the interfaces between each contractor and resolve any conflicts in the programme. “All members will collaborate on design, access, resources and logistics to achieve common goals for cost and schedule,” HS2 Ltd says.
HS2 Ltd adds that the initial design stage of the work will run parallel with the completion of the civil engineering, which is currently at its peak, so that all rail systems contractors are ready to mobilise as soon as the civil works are complete.
A separate contract to deliver the Washwood Heath depot and Network Integrated Control Centre, which will be located at the same site, will be awarded next year. Three companies have been shortlisted for the estimated £275m contract: Gulermak, VolkerFitzpatrick/VolkerRail, and Vinci Construction with Keltbray.
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