12.10.15
Amended HS2 works add half a billion pounds to the project’s cost
Changes to HS2 works to accommodate landowner requirements, design alterations and the extension of the Chiltern tunnel are set to add half a billion pounds to the project’s cost.
According to figures released today (12 October) and signed off by HS2 Ltd boss Simon Kirby, amendments made to accommodate requests from landowners and occupiers are expected to cost over £160m (in Q2 2011 prices, with contingency included).
These amendments relate to several districts, parishes and London boroughs, as well the city of Birmingham, and include the purchase of land, minerals and permanent rights and compensation. It also covers extra costs tied to railways (earthworks, tunnels and bridges, electrical and signalling), buildings, road and streets and bridges over HS2.
Changes to tunnels and bridges alone are adding almost £90m to projected costs.
Modifications related to the design of the works authorised by the Bill [HS2 Hybrid Bill] will cost an extra £160m, almost half of which related to the purchase of land, minerals and permanent rights and compensation.
But amendments relating to the extension of the Chiltern tunnel in the parishes of Amersham, Little Missenden and Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire are responsible for nearly half of the entire bill of surplus costs at a projection of almost £260m.
The overwhelming majority of this is a result of changes to tunnels and bridges.
Last week, RTM revealed the details of each of the seven civil engineering contracts currently up for grabs as part of HS2’s first phase. Works for the Chiltern tunnel spanned two of these contracts, with the first including both the tunnel and the Colne Valley viaduct.
This contract, valued between £800m and £1.3bn, included a 22km section, through the 15.8km long Chiltern tunnel.
Also today, the government released details of these additional and replacement plans and sections. The three-volume documents show extra details along the centre line of new and amended works, as well as the level of those works in relation to existing land and features.
The first volume related to Kilburn to Lower Boddington, while the second is for Ladbroke to Handsacre & Curdworth to Curzon Street. The third and smallest volume is for SO33 plans and route-wide and SO57 sections.
Please be aware that these documents are very large.
(Top image c. HS2 Ltd Birmingham & Fazeley canal viaduct)