Stuart Miller, Construction Alliance North East board member expects contractors across the north to benefit from the opportunities the Transpennine Route Upgrade programme will offer.

He said: “This is a long-awaited scheme and the East/West route has been championed by transport for the north that has needed attention for a long time and will bring economic benefits by linking up the east and west of the country.

“The project itself is a huge feat of civil engineering; it’s complicated and isn’t going to be an easy challenge so that should
be a great opportunity to bring innovation to the table. I think Network Rail will have to use a wide range of suppliers to deliver the project because there are expected to be a number of engineering challenges throughout the programme. Ultimately what you are trying to do is modernise an ageing asset which operates over a challenging topography with significant altitude drops and gains, and many permanent structures over or close to the track. We want to make a Victorian railway into a modern railway.

“There’s tunnels, overhead lines and other elements to consider – it’s a fantastic technical challenge. Economically it will serve
some major conurbations in the North West and East of England. When this joins to the East Coast mainline (York/Newcastle) that makes transport of goods and people much more effective across the country.

“It would be great to think that as many smaller local firms manage to win some supply chain opportunities on such a prestigious project. We’d anticipate many sub-contractor opportunities for local firms which is good, and we should relish the likelihood of innovations brought about via the collaboration required to solve complex problems.

“Additionally there will be station upgrades, road infrastructure upgrades, bridges, public realm improvements. A variety lot of contractors should benefit from such a project.”