24.06.16
Major rail projects ‘more crucial than ever’ to UK’s success post-Brexit
Major rail projects like HS2, Crossrail 2, Northern Powerhouse Rail, and the continued renewal of the network will be “vitally important” to the country’s ability to compete on the global stage, and has been described as “more crucial than ever” following the EU referendum result.
Following the yesterday’s referendum, which delivered a decisive victory for Brexit, with 52% voting to leave against 48% voting to remain, on a 72.16% turnout, members of the UK rail supply chain said they “remained committed” to the UK market.
A spokesperson for Alstom, which recently announced plans for a new Technology Centre and Transport Academy in Widnes, said that investment will continue.
“We hope that the UK will continue to benefit from European rail standards through remaining an active part of UNIFE,” Alstom told us. “We believe that inside or outside the European Union, projects like HS2 and the renewal of the rail network remain vitally important to the UK’s success.”
In a similar light Bombardier, which earlier this month won a contract to supply more Bombardier Class 387 trains to Great Western Railway, said “we are committed to our businesses, all our employees and our customers in the UK and we will continue to work with the government and other industry stakeholders, to create the necessary business environment to ensure our future success”.
They added that it was too early to speculate on potential outcomes/impacts of the UK now having voted to leave the European Union (EU).
“Bombardier has a strong and established presence within the UK and EU and a successful track record of supplying our products and services to customers throughout the UK and the EU,” RTM was told.
“We have a number of ongoing major UK projects, plus there are other upcoming opportunities and we are committed meeting the future needs of the UK market.”
But Patrick Flaherty, CEO of UK & Ireland at AECOM, said business inevitably now faces a period of disruption. Since the result, sterling has fallen by more than 10% to $1.33 against the dollar, and £120bn has been wiped off the FTSE 100.
“It is critical that the domestic agenda is not sidelined as the UK faces a minimum of two years of negotiations to leave the EU,” he said.
“Focus must remain on energy security and energy independence, as well as progressing the UK’s ambitious infrastructure pipeline. Schemes such as HS2, Crossrail 2 and the Northern Powerhouse programme are vital to the country’s ability to compete on a global stage, which is more crucial than ever due to this referendum result.”
Earlier this month, HS2 revealed that the nine companies in the race to win at least one of seven HS2 main civil engineering contracts worth up to £11.8bn had been invited to tender.
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