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Network Rail has officially started procuring for civils and construction partners to join its Midlands Rail Hub (MRH) Alliance in a contract worth up to £1.38bn.
The rail operator published a periodic indicative notice (PIN) for “non-signalling” partners in November when it expected the value of the contracts to be £1.05bn. Following market engagement on the opportunity, the value has been increased by 31% to £1.38bn.
The MRH is a plan, previously costed at £1.5bn, to upgrade a series of rail lines and stations around Birmingham and nearby towns and cities. Sub-national transport body Midlands Connect launched its outline business case for the plan in December 2022, in which it says it will make space for 100 additional trains on the network every day and improve connections in the Midlands and beyond to places including Bromsgrove, Nuneaton, Worcester, Hereford, Great Malvern, Bristol, Gloucester, Cardiff, Cheltenham and Leicester.
The work will involve a series of infrastructure upgrades and interventions, which is where Network Rail’s MRH Alliance comes into play.
The Alliance will include Network Rail as both partner and client, non-signalling partners and a signalling partner.
The Alliance’s work will include, but is not limited to:
- Design and build of new platforms and sidings
- Design and build of two new chords at Birmingham Moor Street
- Widening of an existing viaduct
- Power supply upgrades
- New freight loops
- New overhead line equipment
- Various signalling works including the re-modelling of existing layouts
Network Rail believes the multidisciplinary infrastructure interventions will be split across three section described as West, Central and East. The scope is currently divided into eight interventions that will be split across these three sections.
Overview of MRH interventions
The West and Central interventions at Snow Hill, King’s Norton to Barnt Green (and interventions at King’s Norton and Barnt Green) and Birmingham Bordesley to Moor Street are in the process of securing final funding approval and are intended to be the initial deliverables.
The East interventions are at an earlier stage of design development and are intended to form part of a separate business case; these interventions are subject to future funding decisions.
Additional interventions are also in scope of MRH and may be delivered subject to funding decisions and design development including West and Central interventions at Worcester to Hereford and Stoke Works Junction and East Midlands interventions at Water Orton and Nuneaton to Wigston.
It is also envisaged that the West intervention of Worcester-Hereford will be delivered by the Alliance but does not form part of the initial deliverables and is dependent upon as yet uncommitted renewals in the Worcester area.
The Alliance anticipated final cost sits between £1.1bn and £1.5bn. This cost is split between initial deliverables and additional interventions.
The indicative values for the initial deliverables (predominantly interventions in West and Central) are:
- Multi-Disciplinary (non-signalling, power and communications): £700M-£800M (excluding VAT)
- Signalling, power and communications: £150M-£250M (excluding VAT)
Indicative values for additional interventions (predominantly East) are:
- Multi-Disciplinary (non-signalling power and communications: £250M-£350M (excluding VAT)
- Signalling, power and communications: £50M-£100M GBP (excluding VAT)
Network Rail is using a modified NR35 Alliance Contract (based on the NEC4 Alliance Contract) to appoint all partners to the Alliance. The multi-disciplinary partner(s) will be required to work with Network Rail and the signalling partner as a single Alliance team. Network Rail and each of the partners will sign one Alliance contract.
The contract will last for 96 months (eight years), though Network Rail has not indicated when it will commence.
Interested parties have until 24 April to submit requests to participate. The contract award is expected to be announced in late June.
Network Rail said: “The key objectives of MRH are to improve connectivity across the Midlands region; boost economic growth; maximise use of HS2 to London through interchange in Central Birmingham; improve access to jobs, leisure, healthcare, and education; optimise the utilisation of station capacity in central Birmingham; and make rail journeys more attractive and encourage modal shift to rail.”
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It’s good to see quick action by Network Rail and Midlands Connect to spend the funding reallocated from HS2 Phase 2. Previously the Bordesley East Chord was unfunded and Leicester & Nuneaton had to wait for their extra trains.
They could be Cross Country trains between Nottingham/Derby and Cardiff diverted via Leicester and Birmingham Moor Street to create room on the Birmingham to Derby line for HS2 trains to Derby & beyond.
Both the West Coast Mainline (WCML) and Midland Main Line can then be relieved by HS2 bringing Derby within 60 minutes of London – instead of current 80 minute aspirations – and perhaps 15 HS2 trains an hour (rather than the original 18).