HS2 wins £100m High Court challenge over London ‘super hub’ station
US engineering and construction firm Bechtel has lost a lawsuit it brought against HS2 over the procurement process that selected the construction partner to build what is likely to be one of the largest and most expensive railway stations in Europe.
Bechtel was one of the bidders to work on the construction of Old Oak Common station, which will be one of the major southern “hub” stations on the controversial High Speed 2 line.
The winner was a joint venture, BBVS, comprising Balfour Beatty Group, Vinci Construction (UK), Vinci Construction Grands Projects SAS and Systra. It scored 75.38% in the procurement process versus Bechtel’s 73.76%.
US engineering and construction firm Bechtel has lost a lawsuit it brought against HS2 over the procurement process that selected the construction partner to build what is likely to be one of the largest and most expensive railway stations in Europe.
Bechtel was one of the bidders to work on the construction of Old Oak Common station, which will be one of the major southern “hub” stations on the controversial High Speed 2 line.
The winner was a joint venture, BBVS, comprising Balfour Beatty Group, Vinci Construction (UK), Vinci Construction Grands Projects SAS and Systra. It scored 75.38% in the procurement process versus Bechtel’s 73.76%.
Soon after the contact was awarded, Bechtel sued, arguing that HS2 was in breach of its obligations when it considered the tender.
Bechtel argued that had the evaluation been performed correctly, “without manifest error and in accordance with the obligations upon HS2”, Bechtel would have won the competition and would have been awarded the contract.
The case went to trial in November, and in a judgment handed down yesterday (4 March) High Court judge Mr Justice Fraser dismissed the claim.
In a 150-page judgment, Fraser J said that the procurement process was not faulty.
It was “in my judgment, a procurement competition working fairly and as it is designed and intended to operate, and in the result giving HS2 the most economically advantageous tender”, he said.
“In this case that tender was submitted by BBVS, and these proceedings do not change the outcome of that competition. There were no errors in the evaluation of the BBVS or Bechtel tenders, manifest or otherwise, nor were there any other breaches of obligation on the part of HS2,” he added.
According to the ruling, Old Oak Common will be one of Europe’s largest stations when it is opened, with 14 platforms. Much of it will be underground. It is also likely to cost more than £1bn.
“This undoubtedly will make it one of the most expensive railway stations ever to be built in Europe, although still somewhat less than the cost of the New York World Trade Centre Transportation Hub in the United States, said to be the most expensive railway station in the world (at a cost of US$4bn),” the judgment said.
