£200m Deeper into the HS2 Contingency Fund
Progress reports on the HS2 show that the project has had to dig even deeper into its £5bn contingency funds. The report revealed that the original design which work showed HS2’s Euston station having 11 platforms, has now had to be scaled to 10 platforms. Bosses of HS2 are predicting around £1.9bn of net additional
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Heavyweights Join Building the Future Commission
Mark Wild a former Crossrail boss and Kay Hughes HS2 Design Director are the 2 latest heavyweights to sign up as commissioners for the ambitious Building the Future Commission. Mark Wild CEO of SGN and Kay Hughes will advise primarily on the planning and infrastructure strand of the commission. In January 2023 the commission will
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Space Lasers to Remove Leaves off the Tracks
Throughout the month of October Network Rail is currently testing space lasers and plasma jets to try to clear leaves off the tracks. This comprehensive testing uses multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) on the East Lancashire Railway heritage lines. Network Rail’s engineers have been analysing if the autumn trains which were fitted with superheated plasma jets and
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33% Rail Enhancement Schemes Not Progressed
One third of the 58 railway enhancement schemes that the government committed to in its £10bn Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) have not progressed in the last 3 years. The RNEP was initially set up by the Department for Transport (DfT) and was responsible for setting out a rolling programme of enhancement, improvement and investment
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CEO Ray O’Rourke decides not to step down!
For the next two years Ray O’Rourke will still be at the helm of his business whilst he guides it through the current economic crisis and uncertain market conditions. The latest accounts for 31st March 2022 show a pre-tax profit of £2.5m from £2,965m of turnover after an inherit job in Australia blew a hole
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Laing O’Rourkes cost of Manchester Arts Centre
A new report out by Manchester City Council is calling on councillors to release a further £25.2m for the Manchester Arts Centre build which has been dogged by problems and lots of cost overruns. The Centre is due to be opened in summer 2023. If Councillors approve the increase this will see a total capital
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Dance Floor For Merseyrail Underground
Network Rail engineers have designed an innovative repair solution to fix an underground tunnel in Liverpool city centre. Although city dwellers wouldn’t have noticed anything engineers have been working very hard for the last 6 months on a £3.5m project. The project involves strengthening and waterproofing the ceiling of High Neck Tunnel between Liverpool Central
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Mace Group Double Pre-Tax Profits
The construction arm of Mace Group has certainly helped put the group back on track to achieving £2bn revenue this year. In 2021 its pre-tax profit was £17m but has now reached a massive £38m as revenues rose to £1.93bn. Indeed, their Chief executive Mark Reynolds predicted that this year’s revenue would top £2bn putting
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Huge Win Again for Balfour Beatty
Huge Win Again for Balfour Beatty Once again Balfour Beatty has successfully renewed its role as being the sole contractor for both of the Scape Civil Engineering frameworks which cover the UK, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Over the next four years both of the Scape Civil Engineering frameworks are worth up to £3.25bn and
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Death of Slinger Signaller at Costain Gatwick
Very sadly Marius Badiou died on 21 July 2022 whilst he was conducting a lifting operation at the Gatwick Railway Redevelopment Project at Gatwick Airport. British Transport Police who led the accident investigation have now concluded their part of the investigations and have now handed the matter over to the HSE for further analysis. The
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