All the latest news and views.
HS2 Ltd has published it’s Net Zero Carbon Plan, which sets out how HS2 will achieve new carbon reduction milestones, support the decarbonisation of the UK construction sector and reduce the carbon footprint of the programme. The report details that HS2 trains will be powered by zero carbon energy from the first Read more…
HS2 Ltd has released some of the first images of the longest of three innovative ‘green tunnels’ that will be built across Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire to help blend the new high-speed rail line into the landscape and reduce disruption for residents. The one-and-a half-mile long Greatworth tunnel will be built Read more…
We welcome the announcement of the HS2 rolling stock contract to the Hitachi/Alstom JV as a huge step forward for the project. The contract will see the construction of the first 54 HS2 trains at factories in County Durham, Derby and Crewe, creating 2,500 skilled jobs. The HS2 trains will offer Read more…
The first tunnel boring machine (TBM) in the Midlands has now been launched, brought in to dig a one-mile tunnel under Long Itchington Wood in Warwickshire as part of Phase 1 of the HS2 project. The TBM is named ‘Dorothy’ after Dorothy Hodgkin, who in 1964 became the first British Read more…
The publication of Sir Peter Hendy’s Union Connectivity Review is recognition of the incredibly important role of rail – and of high speed rail – in providing much needed connectivity benefits across the UK. High Speed Rail Group welcome the planned creation of UKNET – a strategic approach to development Read more…
If today’s announcements had come from a standing start, the industry would doubtless have been pleased with the investment. But the reality is they represent a reduction in the previous plans for both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. HS2 is the single most important infrastructure project in the UK for Read more…
HS2’s construction partner for the West Midlands – Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) – has announced it has hundreds of new jobs to fill across its supply chain. With local job vacancies ranging from apprenticeships, to site operatives and office-based support roles, BBV is encouraging residents to step forward and consider Read more…
In preparation for the construction of the northern section of HS2’s Phase One route between London and the West Midlands, main works civils contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI (BBV) have successfully demolished a disused bridge in Saltley near Birmingham. The Heartlands Parkway bridge originally connected the A47 with a nearby industrial Read more…
Music producer and rail enthusiast Pete Waterman visited HS2’s Long Itchington Wood Tunnel site in Warwickshire to unveil the name of HS2’s first tunnel boring machine (TBM) on the northern section of Phase One. During a ceremony on the construction site, which is managed by HS2 joint venture Balfour Beatty VINCI, Pete revealed that Read more…
The Costain-Skanska Joint Venture (CSjv), who are delivering the HS2 Enabling Works programme in West London, have refurbished and donated a disused bus to Old Oak Primary School and Bubble & Squeak which will be used by children from the school and the local community as an alternative learning environment Read more…