High Speed 2 contracts worth up to $17.7bn are finally out to tender after UK chancellor George Osborne opened procurement for the first phase of the mammoth project. Seven contracts for the main civils works - the surface route and tunnels - along the phase one route from London to Birmingham have been officially advertised. Interested parties have until 18 November to complete pre-quali-fication questionnaires. Suppliers can express an interest in all seven packages at this stage. At the tender stage - expected in spring 2016 - prequalified firms can bid for up to four packages, and can be win up to two. There is also the possibility of additional contracts, covering the route north of Birmingham to a certain point such as Crewe or Stoke, being put to the pre-qual-ified firms at some stage. Beyond this, the bid process for two further tranches of major contracts will be launched over the next two years, one will be for stations and the other for railway systems.
展开▼
