Two construction firms are sharing £800m worth of work on the Transpennine rail upgrade.
Amey, Bam and design consultancy Arup – working as the TRU West Alliance – have won the latest stage of the £2bn project to improve train travel between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York.
The alliance said it is the largest single contract by value that Network Rail has awarded.
The firms will deliver upgrades to six stations between Huddersfield and Leeds, as well as constructing nine bridges plus a viaduct.
Huddersfield will also get a new railway siding and signalling work across 28 miles of the route. Two additional railway tracks will be installed between Huddersfield and Ravensthorpe. This section of the route will also get new overhead-line equipment plus drainage.
Earthworks, the scale of which was described by Bam as “significant”, also form part of the project.
Work is planned to take around three-and-a-half years, completing in 2028.
Amey,ranked 11th in the latest annual CN100 table of the UK’s biggest construction firms, said the contract added to its rail work portfolio, which now covers electrification, plant and professional services frameworks in England.
Amey chief executive Andy Milner said: “We have delivered key outputs, such as Manchester to Stalybridge electrification, which has recently seen the first electric passenger trains.”
Nissar Mohammed, rail director at Bam, said: “Bam’s appointment to the next phase of the TRU West project builds on over seven years of successful collaboration with our alliance partners across the North of England.”
According to Network Rail, the Transpennine upgrade project is a £2bn programme across 70 miles of railway that includes 23 stations, 29 level crossings, six miles of tunnels and three miles of viaduct.
The objective is to cut journey times to around 63 minutes between Manchester and York, and to about 42 minutes between Manchester and Leeds.
Electrification of the route is forecast to save up to 87,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.
Network Rail is also aiming to get 15 more freight trains on the route daily, which it said would take 1,000 lorries off the road each day.
TRU West managing director Pete Sollitt said: “We recognise the significance of the largest single contract by value that Network Rail has awarded, and take that responsibility very seriously.”
The announcement came after Bam, ranked ninth in the CN 100, reported a £31.4m loss for its latest financial year, citing high inflation and supply chain insolvency.
In May, Amey was announced by Network Rail as one of 15 contractors on a £3.5bn framework covering the East of England.
