HS2 track alignment change process through collaboration

In every high-speed railway project, the track alignment is one of the most, if not the most, critical element of design. The alignment is the basis that the rest of the civil works design is based on, with any change potentially having a significant knock-on impact.

Hence the creation of a holistic contract-wide change control process was prioritised early on enabling a flexible and technically-sound implementation of opportunities, interfaces and new standards. It has constituted a step change on how collaboration between design, construction teams and client can successfully work.

Alignment determines, in the first instance, the construction feasibility and affordability; mass haul diagrams, tunnel length and ground conditions the structures will have to face, impact on third parties, adjacent contracts and obstructions. More importantly, the whole life cycle performance of the infrastructure: operations, maintenance, whole-life cost and carbon, emerge from and are shaped by the alignment design. This reinforces the need to successfully and collaboratively address measures that take into account all stakeholders at the early stages.

This paper covers how opportunities, interfaces with adjacent contracts, innovation, new standards implementation and how HS2’s interfaces with third parties were addressed and processed in a fully collaborative environment.