Civil Rail – 2016 Milestones

As we look ahead for 2016, it could be a pivotal year for the civil rail industry. With the majority of the civil works completed on many prestigious projects including London Bridge Station, Farringdon Station and Paddington Station clients and contractors move towards the fit out stages. Crossrail all in all has been thus far a success and the demand for high quality staff is higher than ever, with HS2 around the corner major rail contractors are looking to compete for the best packages.

The enabling works contracts cover a range of activities including utility diversions, ecology surveys, archaeology, establishing site compounds, site clearance, demolition, ground remediation, watercourse activities, highways realignments, monitoring and instrumentation, structural reinforcements and drainage.

The work is split into three packages covering northern, central and southern sections of the route, with work expected to start on schedule in 2017.

The following have all been shortlisted for at least one package:

• BBV JV (Balfour Beatty Group plc, Vinci Construction Grands Projects SAS, Vinci Construction UK Limited, Vinci Construction Terrassement SAS)
• CEK JV (Carrillion Construction Limited, Eiffage Travaux Publics, Kier Infrastructure and Overseas)
• Costain Skanska JV (Costain Limited, Skanska Construction Limited)
• LM (Laing O’Rourke, J. Murphy & Sons)
• Morgan Sindall / BAM / Ferrovial JV (Morgan Sindall plc, BAM Nuttall Limited, Ferrovial Agroman (UK) Limited)
• Align JV (BouyguesTravaux Publics, Sir Robert McAlpine, Morrison Utility Services, Volkerfitzpatrick)
• Momentum Infrastructure (Galliford Try Infrastructure Limited, Hochtief Infrastructure GmbH, Dragados SA)

The shortlisted bidders are expected to be invited to tender in the spring, with contract award later in the year, with Costain Skanska JV expected to land a principle London package after successes on Paddington and Bond Street.

In addition to HS2, Crossrail 2 will be next on the agenda. London is a fast growing city, with the population growing by 20 per cent to 10 million people by 2030. Crossrail 2 is necessary to accommodate and support this growth. Transport for London, the Government and Network Rail are already investing heavily in London’s transport infrastructure, but further major schemes are needed.

Crossrail 2 will bring huge benefits to London, the south east and the UK. It will ensure that London can grow and remain globally competitive, driving growth across the national economy. It will do this by providing new homes and jobs across the region, and by improving the quality of life. It will make it easier to travel around, and encourage people to make greener journeys.

Crossrail 2 is in the planning stage of the project and much work is still to be done before we get the go ahead and the funding to construct it. Currently we are developing the route, as well as the branch lines at either end of the Crossrail 2 route.

Crossrail 2 is still in the early stages of developing proposals.  Further design and engineering work is underway and planning consultation widely on more detail about the scheme in a public consultation later on this year.