UK firms to build link

by Kathy Watson



Most of the construction work for the proposed freight line from Liverpool to the Channel Tunnel will be built by UK contractors according to the Parsons Corporation of Pasadena, USA, which is project manager for the scheme.

Dean Allen, president of Parsons Europe said the company has already done conceptual design and feasibility studies for the 550km route. It will involve 25km of tunnels, one in west London and another under the North Downs. The new route will be a mixture of new and improved track on existing railway lines and has a construction cost of £3 billion.

Both Parsons and Mott McDonald have a 10 per cent stake in Central Railways, which last week launched new proposals for its freight line following the failure of its Parliamentary Bill in 1996.

The new route runs from Liverpool via Manchester, Sheffield, Chesterfield, Leicester and Rugby to the west of London. It then heads south to Croydon before taking a dogleg to Tonbridge and Ashford, then the Channel Tunnel.

Central Railway is proposing to design, build finance and operate the link. The company has launched a consultation process with local authorities and is trying to raise money to take the scheme to Parliament next summer. Robert Rafferty a director of Central Railways, admitted that fundraising is proving difficult, blaming adverse publicity following cost increases on the Channel Tunnel and its rail link.

If the scheme gets the go-ahead construction should start in 2001.