We spoke to Tom Pryce, Apprentice Railway Engineering Technician with Alstom Can you describe your role in a few words? Learning operational activities around maintaining trains including 5 Car Bi-Mode, 7 Car EMU’s and Class 390 tilting fleet. What were you doing prior to your Apprenticeship? I was completing A Read more…
HS2 has revealed images of a big construction milestone in Birmingham city centre, with the completion of the first giant V-shaped pier for the 300 metres long viaduct that will bring high speed trains into the new Curzon Street Station. The five-metre-tall structure is the first pier to be installed Read more…
HS2 now has 10 diesel-free construction sites, exceeding the project’s original target of one diesel-free site in 2022. Earlier in 2022, the Canterbury Road Vent Shaft in South Kilburn, managed by Skanska Costain STRABAG joint venture (SCS JV), became HS2’s first diesel-free site. Also managed by SCS, the Euston Approaches and Victoria Road Crossover Box sites have achieved diesel-free status.
Align – a joint venture formed of Bouygues Travaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, and VolkerFitzpatrick, have also announced that seven of their 14 sites are now diesel-free. These include five vent shaft sites along the route of the 10 mile Chiltern tunnels in Buckinghamshire, and two sites involved in the construction of the Colne Valley Viaduct.
HS2 Ltd and its contractors have donated 300 native tree saplings and sustainable tree guards to Corley Academy, a secondary school near Coventry for students with complex social and communication difficulties. The project contributes to the Queen’s Green Canopy, the tree planting initiative created to mark the late Queen’s Platinum Read more…
Steve Rotherham, Metro Mayor of the Liverpool City Region contributed to High Speed Rail: Levelling Up Voices – making the case for the benefits of rail infrastructure investment. : In short, investing in and improving transport connectivity results in a boost to living standards, more resources diverted toward skills and education, and Read more…
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…
HS2’s designers have reduced the length of wall structures for the railway at Streethay from 1.6 kilometres to 420 metres, meaning 80% less concrete will be needed, supporting HS2’s ambition to cut carbon on the project. The railway will pass through Streethay in a cutting, and the shortening of the 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…