Their appointment, which runs for two years, follows the government’s recent publication of its preferred route for HS2 phase two. Phase one will run between London and Birmingham. Phase two comprises lines from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds.
Aecom, Mott MacDonald and Arup will provide engineering and environmental services for each leg of the route. This work will include developing the initial concept engineering designs and preparing sound demonstrations for the consultation on phase two, which has been brought forward to start later this year.
Aecom will provide engineering services for the west leg of the route, from Birmingham to Manchester, under a £3.1m contract.
Mott MacDonald will provide engineering services for the east leg of the route, from Birmingham to Leeds. This contract is valued at £3.2m.
Arup’s £1.1m contract is for environmental services for both legs of the route. The purpose of this contract is to develop the sound demonstrations to be used as part of the phase two consultation process.
Client for the project is a special purpose company set up by the government, called HS2 Ltd. Its chief executive, Alison Munro, said: “HS2 will transform the UK through bringing our major cities closer together, helping to promote economic growth, driving regional regeneration, creating thousands of jobs and providing a long-term solution to the capacity crunch facing our existing rail network.
“We have already created 1,200 jobs through our professional services framework for phase one of the scheme and phase two will create thousands more.
“We have achieved a tremendous amount so far and we now have an excellent team in place to take phase two forward to the next stages including the consultation, which has been brought forward to start later this year.”
Mott MacDonald and Arup are also among the consulting engineer firms working on phase one.
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