HS2 Ltd has signed a contract worth at least £1bn with the joint venture developing the new station at Old Oak Common, despite pending legal action and a review of the whole scheme.
The Balfour Beatty VINCI SYSTRA HS2 joint venture has been formally awarded the contract for managing the construction and delivery of the station in North West London.
The contract award, which was first announced in February, has been challenged in court by unsuccessful bidder Bechtel. However, earlier this month Bechtel said it would allow the contract to be signed in the meantime.
Bechtel is reported to have said it 'remains confident of its case' and is pursuing it to trial next year.
HS2 is also currently being subjected to an ‘independent’ review, which could see the entire project being scrapped. However, HS2 Ltd has said it is ‘business as usual’ during the review.
Despite this, earlier this week transport secretary Grant Shapps announced a temporary halt on the removal of ancient woodlands to make way for the scheme.
What the triple level station could look like if built
It will be responsible for the final design, construction and commissioning of the station, delivering six underground platforms as well as up to eight platforms on the adjacent Great Western Main Line.
The joint venture said Old Oak Common will become the UK’s best-connected station, providing direct services to three major airports and eight of Britain’s 10 largest cities and forming part of one of Britain’s largest regeneration projects, which will help create up to 65,000 jobs and 25,000 new homes.
Nigel Russell, project director for the joint venture, said: ‘This award reflects the combined strength of our joint venture and recognises our world-class capabilities in designing, managing and delivering complex infrastructure projects.
‘We look forward to applying our expertise to deliver this critical piece of national infrastructure so essential to driving the skills agenda, to the rebalancing of the UK economy and to the enabling of a resilient and competitive construction and infrastructure industry.’
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