The first design images have been revealed of Washwood Heath Depot, HS2’s maintenance facility and main control centre for the whole HS2 network, which will create over 550 jobs in the local area. The site, north east of Birmingham city centre, is where HS2 trains will be maintained, serviced and Read more…
HS2 main works contractor, Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV), have released updated designs for the land surrounding the section of the high-speed rail line that crosses the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. The plans respond to community feedback and include a series of wetlands containing four new ecological ponds, expansive grass meadows Read more…
Our Annual Conference at Birmingham’s Think Tank Science Museum focused on the theme of ‘Delivering Europe’s biggest infrastructure project’. The day highlighted the importance of HS2 as a transformative project at both national and regional levels, one that is essential to achieving the Government’s goals of levelling up and achieving Read more…
HS2’s main works contractor, EKFB – a team made up of Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial Construction and BAM Nuttall – has begun construction at the site of its first innovative ‘green tunnel’, designed to blend the high-speed railway into the landscape and reduce disruption for communities. Unlike a normal underground tunnel, Read more…
Balfour Beatty VINCI Joint Venture (BBV) is currently trialling the world’s first all-electric, high-capacity drilling rig on a construction site in Warwickshire, as the Joint Venture steps up its plans to meet HS2 Ltd’s ambition for diesel-free construction sites. The 100 tonne BAUER eBG33 drilling rig creates an overall reduction Read more…
HS2’s Carbon Manager, Mark Fenton shares HS2’s plan to reduce carbon emissions across the railway network with Mimi Ibrahim in Focus Magazine, Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics, May 2022
What methods are being utilised to ensure that HS2 has achieved net-zero throughout the entire network by 2035?
The net-zero carbon plan published earlier at the start of this year sets out some new commitments and targets – primarily achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2035. As part of this, we have a series of stepping stone targets to get us to that point. We have a target to reduce whole-life carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. We will achieve this by applying the carbon reduction hierarchy.
We’re implementing that by working with our supply chain and engaging with industry groups and research organisations so that we can identify and implement lower-carbon materials, use alternative fuels, renewable energy, and new construction methods.
All the various designs to reduce the carbon footprint of the program and support the decarbonisation of the UK construction sector and we’re achieving approximately a 25% reduction across phase one. Some of the ways that we’re doing that are by (more…)
With over 16,700 air passengers travelling domestically across mainland Great Britain each day, improving the country’s rail offering and ensuring the transfer of passengers from air to rail will have an essential role ahead if we are to have any chance of achieving net zero. It will also deliver levelling Read more…
Our latest report – High Speed Rail: Net Zero Voices – make clear that given the transport sector is the nation’s largest single emitter of greenhouse gases, high speed rail has a significant responsibility to minimise its environmental impact through innovation, and ultimately to set new, higher standards for green transport.
With contributions from politics, business and environmentalism, the report shows (more…)
It has been confirmed that a decision by Hs2 to move more material by rail into construction sites near Aylesbury will take the equivalent of an extra 28,500 lorries off Buckinghamshire’s roads and save 9,680 tonnes of carbon emissions. The move to cut lorry numbers will help reduce disruption for communities Read more…
Work on the UK’s longest railway bridge has ramped up this week, with High Speed Rail Group members Align JV beginning production of 1,000 enormous concrete segments that will form the deck of the Colne Valley Viaduct.
The viaduct will carry high-speed trains some 3.4km across a series of lakes and waterways just outside London, with the design inspired by the flight of a stone skipping across the water. The design was chosen to enable views across the landscape, minimise the viaduct’s footprint on the lakes and help complement views across the natural surroundings.
The huge deck segments – which weigh up to 140t – are being made on site at a temporary factory built specifically for the project. Each segment will be a slightly different shape depending on where it fits into the viaduct, a modular approach chosen to ensure quality, safety and efficiency in production and to avoid having to transport the segments by road.
HS2 Ltd is on track to cut the amount of embedded carbon in the viaduct by at least 28.4%. Applying lessons from the construction of the latest European high speed railway (more…)