HS2 accelerates
While the Coronavirus pandemic has dominated the headlines in the past few months, the HS2 mega-project has been rapidly moving into the delivery phase after 11 long years in the planning. PAUL BIGLAND provides a recap of the major developments
RAIL offers a recap on how HS2 has been rapidly moving into the delivery phase after 11 long years in the plannng.
Finally, following years of arguments, discussions, delays and uncertainty, the construction of Phase 1 of HS2 between London and Birmingham is very much under way.
After 11 years of planning and preparation, HS2 finally received Notice to Proceed in April ( RAIL 903).
Now, even seasoned HS2 observers such as me find it hard to keep track of progress. The speed and scale of events makes it feel as if there’s a new announcement on progress every week - despite the hiccup that COVID19 has caused.
It’s easy to miss things. After all, this is a massive project that’s around 124 miles long and which contains dozens and dozens of worksites (large and small), covering a whole range of activities.
There are archaeological surveys to complete, utilities to divert, vegetation to clear, mitigation work, the establishment of site compounds - as well as some major civil engineering ready for the launch of tunnel boring machines or the construction of viaducts and bridges.
With that in mind, here is an attempt to provide an overview of what’s happening where, as well as a recap on some of the major announcements that have taken place in the past few months.
And because of the sheer size of the project, nor is this article a definitive list. If you want to find details of work being carried out in specific areas, HS2 Ltd has an excellent website called HS2 - in your area, which keeps people along the route up to date. You can find it at https://www.hs2.org.uk/in-your-area/
Firstly, let’s look at some of the major announcements.
May 1: Curzon Street is the first HS2 station to gain planning approval
Three planning applications for the new station and the surrounding landscaping were approved by Birmingham City Council’s recent committee on April 23 ( RAIL 904), with the council’s report concluding that the station design “is truly world class”.
On the same day, it was announced that Birmingham’s Interchange station had become the first railway station globally to achieve the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certification (a measure of sustainability for new and refurbished buildings), putting it in the top 1% of buildings in the UK for eco-friendly credentials.
Work continues at both the Curzon Street station site in Birmingham and at London Euston and the surrounding streets, where the demolition of many old properties to make way for the new station has already been completed.
Network Rail has released a time-lapse video showing the demolition of Euston’s old Western ramp up to the parcels deck atop the station.
And a recent picture of the Euston area taken from a Network Rail helicopter leaves one in no doubt about how much demolition and clearance work has taken place on the west side of the station, from the site of the old Downside Carriage shed right down to the former Platforms 17-18.
Another significant point in the Euston story was reached on July 13, when the Mace Dragados joint venture moved onto the construction site adjacent to Euston station to begin work ( RAIL 910).
May 4: Track systems contract is announced
The search was launched for specialist contractors to deliver around 280km (174 miles) of high-speed track between London, Birmingham and Crewe, with the track systems suppliers co-ordinating the design and installation. The contract is split into four lots.
■ Lot 1 - Phase 1 (Urban - London and Birmingham) - £434m.
■ Lot 2 - Phase 1 (Open Route - Central) - £526m.
■ Lot 3 - Phase 1 (Open Route - North) - £566m.
■ Lot 4 - Track - Phase 2a - £431m.
Contracts covering rail, switches and crossings and pre-cast slab track systems will be awarded separately. May 15: The signalling contract is announced
The contract covers the design and build of the signalling systems between London, Birmingham and Crewe and up to 25 years of technical support.
The Command and Control and Traffic Management systems provided will use European Train Control System (ETCS) signalling and the latest TM technology.
The combined value of the contracts is £ 540 million. May 19: Old Oak Common station gains planning approval
The Old Oak Common super-hub in west London will have 14 platforms with a mix of six high-speed and eight conventional service platforms ( RAIL 906).
Expected to be used by around 250,000 passengers each day, it will be one of the busiest railway stations in the country when it opens.
HS2 helpfully uses a good old London standard of measurement to point out that the 850-metre-long HS2 station box will have the volume to fit 6,300 Routemaster buses!
May 26: Details are released of the Chiltern Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) that are under construction
Two of these machines are being built by Herrenknecht in Germany. Some 170 metres in length and weighing around 2,000 tonnes apiece, the machines will run virtually nonstop for three and a half years.
May 28: Cleveland Bridge Co to supply girders for the first major HS2 bridges at the M42
Yet another solid good news story, with a British company announced as the supplier of pre-assembled steel bridge sections - 24 massive steel girders that will form part of the first bridges to be built on the project.
Sixteen of the 20-metre girders were preassembled in the Cleveland Bridge factory as 50-tonne pairs, to minimise the number of delivery vehicles on the road. They are part of 1,130 tonnes worth of steel girders being supplied to HS2’s early works joint venture LM (Laing O’Rouke/Murphy), which is constructing four modular bridges at the site of HS2’s new Interchange station in Solihull.
June 11: Pictures are released of the massive site from where the Chiltern TBMs will be launched
Anyone thinking that work so far had been small beer - grubbing up a few hedgerows or diverting a few water mains - were in for a shock when these pictures were unveiled ( RAIL 908).
The site at South Heath in
Buckinghamshire is massive (136 acres), but it has escaped attention because protesters have ignored it and thus haven’t drawn attention to it.
The two huge TBMs will be launched from the site in 2021.
June 22: Telecoms supply contract announced
The winner of the contract, worth around £ 300m, will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, safety authorisation, testing, commissioning and initial maintenance of the operational telecommunication systems and the routewide security systems on Phase 1 and 2a, between London and Crewe.
The scope of the work includes 2,760km (1,715 miles) of fibre optic cabling, 140 trackside cabinets, dozens of equipment cabins, and radio coverage across 230km (143 miles).
June 24: Birmingham Curzon
Street station construction shortlist announced
The following companies have been shortlisted for the contract to build the £ 570m contract to build the station.
BAM Ferrovial (a joint venture consisting of BAM Nuttall Ltd and Ferrovial Construction ( UK) Ltd).
Laing O’Rourke Construction Ltd.
Mace Dragados (a joint venture consisting of Mace Ltd and Dragados S.A. UK Branch).
Curzon Street station will be net zero carbon in operation and adopt the latest eco-friendly design and sustainable technologies, including capturing rainwater and utilising sustainable power generation, with over 2,800m2 of solar panels located on platform canopies.
July 2: Contract for the overhead power lines on Phase 1 and 2a to Crewe is announced
Worth around £ 300m, the system will cover 589 single-track kilometres (366 miles), including 62 viaducts, 293 bridges and 15 tunnels.
While it is the big announcements that naturally catch the eye, there is continual progress on the ground as the construction project gathers pace towards its biggest and busiest period, which will be between 2024-25 ( RAIL 906).
That said, there’s plenty to look forward to in the next couple of years, with the first TBM set to be launched later this year.
Contractor BBV plans to start the tunnel under Long Itchington Wood, in Warwickshire. This includes the creation of a compound and upgrading Ridgeway Lane to support the transportation of the TBM.
In the autumn, the TBM will be delivered to the Welsh Road main compound via the upgraded Ridgeway Lane. It will be transported in parts and assembled on site. Once the TBM is assembled, tunnelling will start in December 2020. BBV will bore two tunnels under the wood, emerging near the A452 and Dallas Burston Polo Club. Once completed, the TBM will be removed from site.
And despite the temporary hiatus caused by COVID-19, it’s not all about Phase 1 and 2a either.
On June 23, the Department for Transport issued new safeguarding instructions for Phase 2b, while three days later details were revealed of the HS2 route-wide ground
investigation’s programme for Phase 2 - a contract estimated to be worth up £ 250m and delivered in up to eight years.
But what of the protests and opposition to the project?
It has generated a lot of hot air and some media attention, but not a single HS2 worksite has suffered serious disruption or been closed down for more than a day - despite claims to the contrary. And the half-dozen protest camps are tiny, with many under constant threat of eviction.
Extinction Rebellion did organise a walk along the route from Birmingham to London, but this only attracted a few dozen people and did not disrupt any work on the HS2 sites.
Some ‘direct-action’ stunts have descended to farcical levels, such as the one where a solitary protester glued his hands together through an unused gate on the Denham work site. The level of disruption he caused for the couple of hours before he was removed was zero.
Indeed, many of these stunts seem designed to provide propaganda videos to raise funds, rather than actually be concerted attempts to disrupt construction activity.
It’s the same with the Crackley ‘protection’ camp. While protesters did cause disruption, they didn’t prevent any work from being completed and the camp is now pretty much redundant - the last few trees that need to be removed to make way for HS2 will be cleared at the end of the nesting season.
Elsewhere, on July 16, more than a dozen protesters appeared before Birmingham Magistrates on charges that varied from criminal trespass to assault. They pleaded not guilty and their cases will be tried in October.
Efforts to stop HS2 in the courts have also failed. Euston resident Hero Granger-Taylor’s attempt at a Judicial Review into the Camden cutting was rejected by judges on June 5, with no realistic chance of an appeal.
On July 8, environmentalist Chris Packham was back in court with his crowdfunded appeal against the High Court’s refusal to grant him a Judicial Review and pause construction work.
On the first occasion ( RAIL 903), Lord Justice Coulson and Mr Justice Holgate had said: “There is a strong public interest in ensuring that, in a democracy, activities sanctioned by Parliament are not stopped by individuals merely because they do not personally agree with them.”
With the Government desperate to get the economy back on track and inject some life into it, HS2 is needed more than ever.
Also back on track is the House of Lords Phase 2a Committee. The committee paused hearings between March 17 and July 20, but these have now resumed. Oral evidence sessions are being conducted remotely.
Of course, COVID restrictions have reduced the access to HS2 worksites. Hopefully, these will soon be relaxed, and RAIL can continue to bring you regular updates as construction continues to reach new milestones.