The High Speed Rail Group has made a submission to the HM Treasury Spending Review consultation that identifies and advocates for a cost efficient and deliverable path forward for HS2. The focus is on maximising HS2’s concession value at minimum viable scope and cost, which will maximise the project’s economic Read more…
High Speed Rail Group members were given the chance to ‘see and feel’ the live works being undertaken at Old Oak Common on the HS2 programme with a visit hosted by SYSTRA colleagues from the Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA joint venture (BBVS JV). Being able to see first-hand a live Read more…
The foundations have been completed at the HS2 Old Oak Common high speed station in West London. The 850-metre-long underground station base, which will house six platforms for high-speed trains, has been constructed using 76,000 cubic metres of concrete and 17,000 tonnes of reinforced steel. The base slab covers 45,000 Read more…
We welcome the Opportunity through Connectivity report commissioned by the Mayors of Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, which acknowledges that a line between Birmingham and Manchester is essential to deliver capacity and economic benefits across the North and Midlands. It is critical that HS2 Phase 1 is properly connected Read more…
We welcome the launch of the Rail and Urban Transport Review by Juergen Maier and the Urban Transport Group. The report echoes our recently published 5-point plan, rightly emphasising the need for a comprehensive North-South and East-West travel strategy, as well as the critical importance of engaging the infrastructure investment community Read more…
A specialist cantilever process has been used for the first time in the UK to build the first span of a 472-metre-long single track viaduct in the West Midlands. The River Tame West Viaducts carry three rail tracks in total, made up of one single track viaduct and one double-track viaduct. Read more…
The National Audit Office (NAO) report makes clear the plan the incoming Labour government is inheriting – a truncated HS2, and a West Coast Main Line operating at capacity – is not going to help grow the national economy, nor is it going to allow train performance on the West Read more…
Our latest report states that a comprehensive long-term strategy to develop the UK’s inter urban rail network is essential for future economic growth and achieving net zero. The report urges political figures on all sides to look beyond HS2 and take a fresh approach in order to maximise the vast Read more…
Economic analysis of the areas close to HS2’s three hubs in the West Midlands – Curzon Street Station in central Birmingham, Interchange Station in Solihull, and the Washwood Heath Depot and Network Integrated Control Centre – shows dramatic increases in regeneration and investment in the last six years. Since Royal Read more…
HS2 has revealed new images of the project’s largest ‘green bridge’, which will cross the high-speed railway near Brackley. The bridge will cross one of the railway’s longest and deepest cuttings, which will stretch for 1.5 miles past the village of Turweston on the edge of Buckinghamshire and West Northants. Read more…