HS2 Rail Systems Contracts Awarded

[LNW-GW Joint]

HS2 Ltd has announced the winners of the contracts to supply its rail systems (track, power, signalling etc).

HS2 confirms rail systems contract winners

HS2 today named the teams that will deliver the high-speed rail project’s state-of-the-art track, signalling, communications, and other systems.

mediacentre.hs2.org.uk

The winners are:

Track - Ferrovial/BAM Nuttall JV - rail will be supplied "via" Network Rail, slab base by Voestalpine/Porr
OHLE - Colas (using SNCF's V360 OCS design)
Tunnel & Lineside Equipment - Costain
High Voltage - Siemens-Costain JV
Telecoms - Siemens
3rd Party Telecoms- Hitachi-Telent JV
Command & Control (ETCS etc) and Engineering Management - Siemens

There are no details of costs either individually or overall, nor any delivery timescales.
It must represent a significant government approval for these contracts to be awarded.
There will be a 10-day standstill period before contract signature, to allow for objections.

Network Rail supplying the actual rail is quite a surprise, as opposed to a private-sector contractor.
The steel contract for rail will be a sensitive issue in manufacturing terms.
Siemens looks like the clear winner on the technical side.

Names notably absent from the above are Alstom and Balfour Beatty, although they have large contracts elsewhere on HS2.
The Chinese bids were all eliminated.
The OHLE contract did not go to any of the current Network Rail preferred suppliers (SPL, BB etc)

These contract awards are almost 2 years late on the original schedule.
They have obviously been in negotiation for a long time, in order for the full set to be announced simultaneously.

 

[gravitystorm]

Network Rail supplying the actual rail is quite a surprise, as opposed to a private-sector contractor.
The steel contract for rail will be a sensitive issue in manufacturing terms.

There was a recent presentation from HS2 to the PWI on Old Oak Common, Birmingham Interchange and the Rail Systems. From the third part of that presentation there was a slide that explains some of the background for the rail purchasing (at 1hr00m49s):

"HS2 is liaising with Network Rail to utilise existing arrangements for purchase of steel rail, use of haulage and planning of train paths - this will provide better value to the taxpayer than setting up separate agreements"

I think this makes sense - the rails will still be coming from a private sector manufacturer, but it saves the government having two departments (both NR+HS2) with duplicate steel contracts and getting in the way of each other when trying to schedule purchases and deliver it around the network.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Very informative presentation.
Which seems to point at Calvert (and possibly Handsacre) as to where the rail supplies will reach the HS2 trace.
(and I see from one of the slides, access at Washwood Heath, Berkswell and West Ruislip).

I see there is a figure of £3 billion in the HS2 announcement given for the value of the contracts.
I seem to remember that was roughly the cost of the GW electrification before the plug was pulled.
So HS2 is cheap by comparison...

 

[gravitystorm]

Which seems to point at Calvert (and possibly Handsacre) as to where the rail supplies will reach the HS2 trace.

53m15s in the above video has a graphic (and commentary) about railheads used for the rail systems fit out.



[The image is a sketch from the slide deck showing railheads and rail connections at various points along the HS2 route, including Washwood Heath Rail Connection, Berkswell Sidings, Calvert Railhead, West Ruislip Sidings, Stone Railhead (Phase 2a) and also Curzon Street and Euston stations with arrows leading from all of these locations towards each other.]

 

[hwl]

The OHLE contract did not go to any of the current Network Rail preferred suppliers (SPL, BB etc)

The French HS OHLE system has always been the preferred technical /cost choice so not much surprise.

 

[stuu]

The French HS OHLE system has always been the preferred technical /cost choice so not much surprise.

So they have abandoned their bespoke OHLE which they made a big deal about? Good if so

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

So they have abandoned their bespoke OHLE which they made a big deal about? Good if so

The NR design wouldn't have been suitable for real high speed, and the HS1 system was also copied from the SNCF LGV design.
Colas Rail, ultimately a French company, worked on HS1 and has recently delivered HS electrification projects in France and Morocco.

 

[Meerkat]

Where does NR get its rail from?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Where does NR get its rail from?

From Chinese-owned British Steel Scunthorpe (some complex stuff (S&C) comes from abroad, often from Austria).
There's also a complex relationship with the Hayange rail production plant in France, which I think is owned by Liberty steel.
In recent times, contracts have been split between the two plants, with Scunthorpe supplying rail for new SNCF LGV lines, and some Hayange output coming to the UK, both via the channel tunnel.
So a complicated setup.

 

[Meerkat]

From Chinese-owned British Steel Scunthorpe (some complex stuff (S&C) comes from abroad, often from Austria).
There's also a complex relationship with the Hayange rail production plant in France, which I think is owned by Liberty steel.
In recent times, contracts have been split between the two plants, with Scunthorpe supplying rail for new SNCF LGV lines, and some Hayange output coming to the UK, both via the channel tunnel.
So a complicated setup.

I was just having a cynical thought that getting the rail via NR lessened the chances of headlines on the lines of "HS2 buys tens of millions of pounds of FOREIGN steel rail!"

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I was just having a cynical thought that getting the rail via NR lessened the chances of headlines on the lines of "HS2 buys tens of millions of pounds of FOREIGN steel rail!"

That could very well happen.
Rail plants are sized for the regular domestic production, not a 150-mile new railway.
Scunthorpe delivered steel to France when they had 2-3 LGVs under construction simultaneously.
They are also, like Tata at Port Talbot, due to replace their blast furnaces with electric arcs.
There is already a flow of imported slab steel to Port Talbot.

 

[InTheEastMids]

That could very well happen.
Rail plants are sized for the regular domestic production, not a 150-mile new railway.
Scunthorpe delivered steel to France when they had 2-3 LGVs under construction simultaneously.
They are also, like Tata at Port Talbot, due to replace their blast furnaces with electric arcs.
There is already a flow of imported slab steel to Port Talbot.

Scunny is I think the only UK manufacturing facility for long rail and I think the then Corus/Tata investment in relocation of that facility from Workington was contingent on a long term contract from NR. If NR are effectively going too re-sell rail to Hs2 then that may allow HS2 to benefit from whatever deal NR have, and allows order/production volumes to be optimised without HS2 and NR competing directly for the same production, which would tend to push up the price.

 

[Snow1964]

Contain has now formally announced its £400m contract for tunnels and lineside. Starts Q1 2025, runs for 7 years (with possible extensions)

• £400m award will deliver critical lineside mechanical & electrical systems for the UK’s new high speed rail link.

Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has won a major contract to deliver tunnel and lineside mechanical and electrical (M&E) systems for HS2.

Costain will deliver the design, supply, manufacture, installation, testing and commissioning of HS2’s Tunnel and Lineside M&E systems during construction. The total contract value is worth a minimum of £400m to Costain. The contract, to be signed in due course, will start in Q1 2025 for a seven-year period, with the option for additional contract extensions.

The M&E systems installation will include services within the tunnels, together with cross-passages, low voltage power services and distribution on the open part of the route. Costain will also design, supply, install, test and commission the tunnel ventilation systems.

Costain wins major HS2 rail systems tunnel and lineside M&E contract

Costain, the infrastructure solutions company, has won a major contract to deliver tunnel and lineside mechanical and electrical (M&E) systems for HS2. Costain will deliver the design, supply, manufacture, installation, testing and commissioning of HS2’s Tunnel and Lineside M&E systems during...

www.costain.com