The troubled process of creating a mass transit system to transport High Speed 2 (HS2) passengers to other rail interchanges has taken a step forward with the shortlisting of two contractors.
Two European cable car specialists will now slug it out for £269m of work on the project.
French firm Poma S.A.S and the UK arm of Austrian outfit Doppelmayr will compete for two deals to design, install and operate the automated people mover in the West Midlands, client HS2 Ltd announced last Friday (7 February).
Once built, the system will shift thousands of passengers every hour between major points in the West Midlands, calling at HS2’s Interchange Station as well as the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham International Station and Birmingham Airport.
It will run on an elevated 2.2km-long viaduct across the West Coast Main Line, Pendigo Lake and the M42.
HS2 Ltd expects to award the contracts next year.
The successful firm will be tasked with the design, supply and installation of the cable-pulled operating system as well as its maintenance and operation for the next 25 years.
Ailsa Waygood, project client at HS2 Ltd, said the people mover was “an important part” of the rapid rail link.
“It’s an exciting development as we invite the two shortlisted companies to progress to the formal tender stage, entering the next phase in turning our vision into reality.” she added.
HS2 Ltd also said it intends to formally begin procurement in 2026 for a contractor to design and deliver the piers, viaducts, stops and maintenance facility required for the people mover.
This deal is slated for award in 2028, with construction, installation and testing forecast to complete in 2030.
Procurement of works for the people mover has been drawn out. HS2 Ltd initially started looking for contractors for the project almost five years ago.
An official pipeline published by the Department for Transport in August 2021 then said procurement for the system would start that month. But this was removed shortly after Construction News questioned this timeline.
Nine months later, a fresh pipeline was published, with a procurement start date for the long-awaited automated people mover marked as unknown.
Market engagement over the design-and-build deal began last year.
Last month, HS2 Ltd submitted design changes for its Curzon Street station to Birmingham City Council.
HS2 chief executive Mark Wild said shortly before Christmas that the project was undergoing a “fundamental reset” that would involve renegotiating already awarded construction contracts in order to “bear down” on costs.
He also said it would take 18 months to develop a new baseline for the programme – with timescales and cost estimates – due to previous errors.
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Greg Pitcher