HS2 has started its search for a specialist contractor to deliver cutting edge signalling and control systems for the controversial planned high-speed railway system, with a new £540 million invitation to tender.
Requests to participate need to be in by July 7, a procurement notice posted on a European tenders portal late Thursday reveals.
HS2 is seeking, among other services, “reconfigurable control areas, interfaces to third party stock and crew systems and interfaces to third party support tools for automatic incident management.”
It also wants “outputs for real-time passenger information.”
HS2 Ltd’s Commercial Director David Poole said: “Our state-of-the-art Command and Control Systems and Traffic Management systems will allow HS2 to offer fast, frequent and reliable low carbon journeys for millions of people every year.
“I look forward to our team working with the suppliers who come forward and together ensuring that we deliver best quality and value for the project.”
The notice comes as Network Rail, the infrastructure manager of most of UK’s rail network, plans to spend a massive £2 billion on IT goods and services by 2028.
The new contract opportunities cover the design and build of the signalling systems that will control trains travelling at speeds of up to 360km/h between London, Birmingham and Crewe – where HS2 trains will join the existing West Coast Mainline – and up to 25 years of technical support, HS2 said in a separate announcement.
The consortium added that “instead of traditional coloured lights, HS2 will use a high-tech signalling system that feeds information directly into the cab, allowing faster and more frequent services.”
Shortlists are set to be announced next year with contract award around 2022.
The notice comes two weeks after HS2 proposed Curzon Street station in Birmingham, was given planning permission by Birmingham City Council. (Artist’s impression as per our banner image above).
The design incorporates the existing Grade 1 listed Old Curzon Street building, linking it to the new station’s eastern concourse at New Canal Street, with the council dubbing it an “elegant and (deceptively) simple” design. The station will be the first brand new intercity terminus station built in Britain since the since the nineteenth century.
See also: Network Rail Plans Massive £2 Billion IT Spending Spree
