HS2 contractors committed to Euston

[YorkRailFan]

From the Standard: Tunnelling to start in 2026 - despite Government sending rail link into buffers.
HS2 contractors say they plan to press ahead with digging tunnels to Euston, despite the Government having effectively sent the high-speed link to central London crashing into the buffers.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month ordered the cost of the Euston leg to be reduced by £6.5bn – meaning it will only be built if it can be part-financed with private investment.
The order to cut costs – alongside the axing of the Birmingham to Manchester section – was despite years of preparatory works having turned Euston into a vast construction site.
But during a HS2 media event on Wednesday, designed to showcase the vast amount of work continuing on site at Old Oak Common station in north-west London, tunnelling contractor Skanska Costain made clear its intention to start digging towards Euston in 2026.

James Richardson, managing director of the Skanska Costain joint venture, told the Standard: “The tunnel that goes from [Old Oak Common] to Euston will commence in 2026. That will take around two years to complete. We are expecting that to be concluded in 2028.”
This could mean that the tunnels will be ready – but may not be used for another decade unless the row over who funds the Euston HS2 station is resolved.

Mr Richardson, asked whether he was defying Government orders, said: “What the Prime Minister said was that we are committed to go to Euston but we need to find a funding mechanism that enables some of that funding to be supported by the private sector. I think that is a reasonable challenge with regard to infrastructure.

“From our point of view as the contractors delivering these tunnels, we continue exactly as we are.”
The two tunnel boring machines that will dig the Euston tunnels are due to be lowered into the ground at Old Oak Common next year.

Link to article:https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tra...ctor-old-oak-common-rishi-sunak-b1119226.html

Fair play to the contractors, they were contracted to tunnel to Euston and they're committed.

 

[Taunton]

The contractors have a contract to deliver. I am well aware that a lot of work has gone into the overall Euston project already - boring the running tunnels is the easy bit that can be left until later, although the TBMs themselves are doubtless already designed and in build. As Mr Richardson says, if the government is looking for new funding methods to pay for what they have contracted to receive, that is up to the government.

 

[whoosh]

I think after the next election, the Conservatives (should they lose and be in opposition) will complain very vocally about how much HS2 is costing, and particularly if parts are reinstated (you know - the parts that make the most sense, but require spending some money to get the real benefits). It's like they are playing a game of chess and have made a move so they can have an 'angle' to attack over to gain ground next time (2029/30 election).

The fact that this contract isn't cancelled, but a lot of money now has to be spent (the previous commitment having been cancelled at Euston) to actually build a terminus now - it just looks like a set up.

 

[YorkRailFan]

I think after the next election, the Conservatives (should they lose and be in opposition) will complain very vocally about how much HS2 is costing, and particularly if parts are reinstated (you know - the parts that make the most sense, but require spending some money to get the real benefits). It's like they are playing a game of chess and have made a move so they can have an 'angle' to attack over to gain ground next time (2029/30 election).

The fact that this contract isn't cancelled, but a lot of money now has to be spent (the previous commitment having been cancelled at Euston) to actually build a terminus now - it just looks like a set up.

HS2 to Euston makes political sense as the Tories can say that they are delivering on bringing HS2 to Euston.

 

[Snow1964]

They have to dig part of it anyway, the TBMs start at Old Oak, and if they didn't move them forward the back part of the machine where segments are unloaded and muck is loaded would still be in the station environs.

Can't really build the eastern junction track work, or any overrun track if TBMs haven't moved on.

I might be wrong, but I thought they had been timed the TBM drive to commence when a tunnelling crew finishes one of the other tunnel drives, possibly Chiltern tunnel (might be elsewhere), so crew can simply change worksite rather than be dispersed and replaced.

 

[Sonik]

I think after the next election, the Conservatives (should they lose and be in opposition) will complain very vocally about how much HS2 is costing, and particularly if parts are reinstated (you know - the parts that make the most sense, but require spending some money to get the real benefits). It's like they are playing a game of chess and have made a move so they can have an 'angle' to attack over to gain ground next time (2029/30 election).

The fact that this contract isn't cancelled, but a lot of money now has to be spent (the previous commitment having been cancelled at Euston) to actually build a terminus now - it just looks like a set up.

I'm not sure if that will really work politically, because effectively what Sunak has done is reset the HS2 budget, because he has justified the decision to cancel (and the loss of additional value) on the basis that Phase 1 costs are already sunk and therefore not recoverable.

Thus any decision to reinstate additional phases (Euston, Manchester etc.) will now politically become stand-alone entities, and will therefore benefit from the value of Phase 1 already existing. It will be difficult for the Tories to argue otherwise for a total scheme cost basis because to do so will be to acknowledge that the decision to cancel was flawed.

It's a bit like the M25, originally built in a few disparate sections, after which the cost justification to fill in the missing sections and complete the loop, became much more obliviously beneficial and difficult to oppose.

 

[AeM]

Just needs some Private Sector funding to complete the line from Euston, to HS1. And finish the link to Manchester. Sounds like an ideal opportunity for our Pension Funds to enjoy their newly found freedoms to invest in UK Infrastructure, like the Ontario Teacher's Pension funds and the Caisse de Depot et Placement (Quebec) have been doing for ages.

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