OREANDA-NEWS. July 13, 2016. An Atkins and CH2M team has been awarded a ?1.5-million contract to deliver the Stage 1 On-Networks Systems programme for Network Rail on the proposed Crossrail 2 project.

The project team will work collaboratively on the development of the upgrade designs for the Network Rail-owned stations, tracks and rail infrastructure on either side of the proposed tunnelled section, which will play a key role in Crossrail 2. The work will cover the mainline to Hampton Court, Epsom, Chessington South and Shepperton in the South West as well as Broxbourne Junction to Tottenham Hale in West Anglia.

The first stage of the work is to develop the initial proposals to support the revision to the business case and to enable the next public consultation.  Subject to acceptance of the business case, this process will culminate in the submission of the Hybrid Bill to Parliament in 2019, as recommended by the National Infrastructure Commission.

Atkins and CH2M are building on their previous engineering and programme management experience, as part of the CAST (CH2M, Atkins, Supply Chain and Transport for London) team, working on Crossrail 2.  Together, they have provided strategic transport modelling, route development, transport planning and economic appraisal of the project.  More recently, the two organisations were named, with SENER, as the Engineering Delivery Partner for Phase One of HS2.

Speaking on behalf of the team, Philip Hoare, managing director of Transportation at Atkins, says, “It is a real honour to be working in collaboration with Network Rail and CH2M on the development of this programme. Crossrail 2 could play a major part in creating the extra capacity needed on London’s transport network and promoting wider regional economic growth for London and the South East.”

Crossrail 2 is a proposed new railway serving London and the wider South East. It could connect the National Rail networks in Surrey and Hertfordshire via new tunnels and stations between Wimbledon, Tottenham Hale and New Southgate, linking in with London Underground, London Overground, Crossrail 1, national and international rail services. It will add capacity to the regional rail network, cutting journey times across the South East. It will also support economic regeneration by providing infrastructure that could support 200,000 new homes and 200,000 new jobs.