Mott MacDonald is engineering advisor for high speed line – Birmingham to Manchester, UK

Mott MacDonald has been appointed by High Speed Two Ltd to undertake professional engineering services to support the development of the potential route of a new high speed railway line between Birmingham and Manchester. Scott Wilson and Grimshaw are supporting Mott MacDonald in the delivery of engineering, railway operations and architectural studies.

High Speed Two Limited (HS2 Ltd) is the company set up by the UK Government to consider the case for new high speed rail services between London and Scotland. The Government has asked HS2 Ltd to report at the end of 2011 on the comparative case for different ways of connecting the West-Midlands with Manchester. This work will inform the Government’s overall strategy and timetable for establishing a high speed rail network.

The Mott MacDonald team will develop options for line of route corridors, station approaches and city centre and parkway stations as well as connections to the classic network. In addition to engineering and architectural design and feasibility, capacity and journey time modeling will be undertaken to inform the HS2 Ltd business case work. Infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance depot facilities will also be considered.

Tony Walker, Mott MacDonald’s project manager said, “We are delighted to be awarded this project which is a great opportunity to be a part of the development of high speed rail in the UK. It provides our younger engineers the experience they will need to get the maximum advantage to develop the skills they and the UK will need to deliver high speed rail in the future.”