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HS2 ground investigation framework awarded on under-threat northern leg
03 OCTOBER, 2023 BY THAMES MENTETH
HS2 Ltd’s recent award of a ground investigations framework worth £300M on phase 2 hangs in the balance after it was reported that the government plans to axe the northern leg of High Speed 2 from Birmingham to Manchester.
The framework agreement, which covers route wide ground investigations for the second phase of the high-speed rail project, was awarded last week (28 September).
However, the recent contract award notice could be called off after it emerged yesterday that the High Speed 2 (HS2) leg between Birmingham and Manchester – covering phase 2a and phase 2b – could be cut.
A source at HS2 Ltd had previously told GE that the framework award did not mean guaranteed spend.
The contract award notice itself notes that ground investigations may be “called off under the framework agreement as optional scope at other HS2 sites or by contracting bodies other than HS2 Ltd”.
The framework is divided into two lots, with lot 1 for the management and co-ordination of the packaging of ground investigation works, and lot 2 for the acquisition of geotechnical, hydrogeological and geo-environmental data through surveys.
Lot 2 covers some land with area of historical mining, such as the salt plains in Cheshire and coal in the East Midlands.
Aecom was awarded the £85M contract for lot 1. Bam Ritchies, Fugro Geo Services, Geotechnical Engineering, RPS, Socotec UK, Soil Engineering Geoservices, Strata Geotechnics and Structural Soils were awarded places on lot 2, with a total value of £215M.
As rumours that phase 2 of HS2 was in trouble began to gather pace last month, those in the ground investigation industry were some of the first to voice concerns.
Socotec UK business unit director of ground investigation Mark Toye told GE that the rumours had created much uncertainty for contractors working on the project.
“No business wants to take risks on investment and adding to its resource levels in such an uncertain market,” Toye said.
He pointed out that even prior to the two-year construction pause announcement for HS2 phase 2a, the award of the phase two ground investigation framework was one year late.
He added: “It’s not just the GI [ground investigation] market that would be affected; while tier one contractors continue to construct phase one, if they have nothing to move on to even in two years' time, then the whole construction sector will be adversely affected.”
Speculation that the project’s future was in trouble first began when the Independent reported that it had seen documents which suggested that Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt were in discussions to cancel the second phase of HS2 north of Birmingham.
According to the leaked documents seen by the paper, scrapping the northern phase could save up to £34bn. The government has already spent £2.3bn on HS2’s phase 2 from Birmingham to Manchester.
The high speed rail project has suffered multiple cutbacks and delays in recent years due to government efforts to reduce spend.
In 2021, the government scrapped HS2’s 2b eastern leg from the West Midlands to Leeds, and in 2022 it axed the 21km Golborne link, which would have connected HS2's Crewe to Manchester leg with the West Coast Main Line.
Another blow came earlier this year when the government announced that construction of HS2’s Birmingham to Crewe section (phase 2a) and the Euston terminus in London would be delayed by at least two years to reduce costs.
The estimated delivery date for HS2’s phase 2b western leg from Crewe to Manchester had been put within the range of 2035 to 2041. The bill for phase 2b is still going through parliament. As such, construction on phase 2 was not due to start for some time.
Northern Powerhouse Rail described the stretch between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Airport as “the most valuable stretch of route” in response to yesterday’s reports on the cancellation.