Aggregates to HS2 sites by rail will negate impact of HGVs
Freight trains carrying material to HS2’s main Buckinghamshire compound will remove 12,670 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) from the road, HS2 Ltd says.
The first DB Cargo UK train arrived at the Calvert railhead site on December 10, carrying 1,650 tonnes of aggregate from Hanson Aggregate’s Tytherington Quarry (near Bristol).
More than 180 DBC trains will run to the temporary railhead at Calvert, with all the material to be used on the central section of Phase 1.
The railhead measures 26,200m2 and is run by HS2’s main works contractor EKFB (a team comprising Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial and Bam Nuttall), which is delivering 50 miles of the new railway including 17 viaducts, 81 bridges and three tunnels.
EFKB also has a contract with GB Railfreight for the delivery of material to Calvert, but this will be during the main construction period.
“We are serious about reducing the impact of construction on the local community and promoting sustainable construction methods.
That’s why I am so pleased to see the arrival of the first material into Calvert by rail instead of road,” said HS2 Project Client Director Ambrose McGuire.
It’s planned that during the construction’s peak, more than 650 staff will work at the railhead. Once construction of the new railway is complete, the railhead will be removed, the site landscaped, and only a small infrastructure maintenance depot will remain.
The Calvert railhead is also next to the planned East West Rail link. Teams from both
HS2 and East West Railway Company are working together on construction plans, including installing a bridge allowing HS2 to pass under the reopened line.
Overall, across the entire HS2 project, it’s expected that some 15,000 freight trains will haul ten million tonnes of aggregates to construction sites (the equivalent of 1.5 million lorries).