Old Oak Common
Mace, Balfour Beatty and Vinci are among the contractors that have won two separate deals to build HS2’s London terminus at Euston and its west London hub at Old Oak Common.
A joint venture between Mace and Dragados has picked up the Euston contract, beating bidders Costain/Skanska Construction UK and BAM Nuttall/Ferrovial Agroman (UK).
Meanwhile, a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, Vinci and Systra has won the Old Oak Common project, seeing off competition from Mace Limited/Dragados, Bechtel, and BAM Nuttall/Ferrovial Agroman (UK).
At Euston, HS2 will more than double capacity, to deal with increasing passenger demand while freeing up space on the west coast mainline for more freight and local and long-distance commuter services. While Mace has been involved with complex projects such as Battersea Power Station (phase 2), Dragados has worked on delivering the Spanish high-speed rail network, including the major new Madrid Atocha and Barcelona Sants stations.
Euston HS2 southern entrance
At Old Oak Common, the arrival of HS2 is expected to help hail the UK’s biggest regeneration project, transforming the former railway yards into new neighbourhoods supporting up to 65,000 jobs and 25,500 new homes.
Work is already underway on the high-speed rail project. In London, more than a thousand people are at work delivering pre-construction works, including HS2’s archaeological programme.
The station construction partners will now be responsible for working with HS2 and the station designers, to coordinate the delivery of the station, including platforms, concourse and links to the London Underground and other rail services.
HS2 chief executive, Mark Thurston said: “Euston and Old Oak Common are two of the most important elements of the project – two landmark stations which will help unlock tens of thousands of jobs and new homes across the capital. Together with our Birmingham stations, they will transform the way we travel and set new standards for design, construction and operation.
“Mace/Dragados and Balfour Beatty/VINCI have a strong track record of delivering some of the world’s most challenging and exciting infrastructure projects and I look forward to welcoming them to the London teams.”
Jason Millett, Mace’s chief operating officer said: “We are delighted by today’s news. HS2 will transform Euston, delivering much-needed extra capacity and better journeys for the 44 million people that use the station every year. Mace’s experience across the whole property life-cycle and other major infrastructure projects alongside Dragados’s world-class high-speed rail expertise will fully be brought to bear on this complex project of national importance.”
HS2 services will eventually connect over 25 destinations and 30 million people across the UK. Trains will serve existing city centre stations in places like Glasgow and Liverpool, as well as purpose-built stations in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and the East Midlands.