Washwood Heath makes way for new HS2 depot
Demolition of the former railway works at Washwood Heath has begun, to make way for HS2’s new train maintenance depot.
The work on the 110,000m2 site is being carried out by HS2 Ltd and local firm LM JV.
The site was home to a facility that has yielded 412,464 tonnes of demolition materials, which HS2 Ltd said weighed the same as 68 Birmingham BT Towers. It added that the material will predominantly be reused on site, thereby reducing the number of landfill and lorry movements.
Mike Lyons, Programme Director of Phase 1 in the Midlands, said: “As we prepare for the construction of HS2, there is a huge amount of work going on at sites in the Midlands, including land clearance, habitat creation, tree planting, demolitions, archaeology, road improvement works and utility diversions.
“We currently have 62 live sites across the whole Phase 1 route, servicing over 250 work locations. Over 7,000 jobs are supported by HS2, and over 300 companies in the Midlands are already working on the project.”
The site will be used to maintain the HS2 fleet, for which five companies are currently bidding to build. Up to 500 staff will be employed at the site when it opens, and it will be the only rolling stock maintenance site for Phases 1 and 2a on HS2.
Alstom used the site to build various fleets in recent years, including Class 175 and ‘180’ diesel multiple units, as well as completing the Class 390 Pendolinos there (bodyshells were shipped from Italy).
The site was most recently the home of Boden Rail Engineering Limited and DC Rail. Both have moved to other locations.