SYSTRA has been involved in every high-speed rail line in France and 50% of those worldwide. 

In the UK, the French engineering consultant worked on Crossrail and the Edinburgh Glasgow Improvement Programme, and was a member of Rail Link Engineering – the organisation responsible for the design and engineering of HS1.

Mott MacDonald brings a long association with high-speed rail projects around the world and has been involved in HS2 for over six years, providing a broad range of planning, engineering and environmental services as well as having played a key role on HS1 as the government’s representative.

The joint venture has pledged to utilise a local supply chain the length and breadth of the Midlands on all work undertaken. This reflects Balfour Beatty VINCI’s stance on using smaller, local companies to bring social and economic value to the local economies in which they operate.

Balfour Beatty/Vinci has been shortlisted for four civil engineering packages of work for HS2 worth an estimated £3.3bn- £5.4bn.

These include: Lot N1, the Long Itchington Wood Green Tunnel to Delta Junction/Birmingham Spur; Lot N2 the Delta Junction to West Coast Main Line Tie-in; Lot C1, the Chiltern Tunnels and Colne Valley Viaduct; and Lot C2, the North Portal Chiltern Tunnels to Brackley.

The joint venture was also shortlisted as one of the enabling works contractors in the running for a share of the £900m preparatory works, and was invited to tender in March 2016.

The successful contractors for the main civil engineering packages are due to be announced later this year with the enabling works expected to commence in 2017 ahead of the start of major civil engineering works on the first stage of the project between London and the West Midlands.