Friday the 20th of January saw Members of Parliament updated as to the progress of the HS2 project and also enjoy a tour of the Curzon Street Station site in Birmingham.

Organised by the Institution of Civil Engineers, the visit saw MPs hear directly from team members who work on the project. The visit also came as part of the Institute’s ongoing work with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure which was formed in a bid to focus attention on the importance of economic infrastructure across the country to Parliamentarians, Government and industry.

MP, Ruth Cadbury joined the visit in her capacity as Chair of the Women in Transport All-Party Parliamentary Group which aims to deal with the under-representation of women within the transport sector, the group also focuses on promoting best practices in gender diversifying its workforce.

The tour party at the site learned about HS2’s latest progress alongside an overview of plans regarding the Curzon Street Station and also from Balfour Beatty VINCI in regards to how HS2 is providing new upskills, employment and education opportunities for people in the area.

Once Curzon Street Station is finished it will be the central point of the new high-speed rail network and will mark the most northerly stop in Phase One of HS2.

The project’s innovative design has been given the BREEAM Excellent rating (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) Excellent rating, which is a recognised standard right across the industry for buildings which cut energy usage and materials waste whilst creating minimal impact on the natural environment.

When complete, the Curzon Street Station will be at the heart of Britain’s new high-speed rail network and will be the northernmost stop on Phase One of HS2.

Andrew Jones MP, Chair of the APPGI, said:“Delivering infrastructure is critical to making progress on the economic, social, and environmental goals of our country. Seeing projects being delivered on-site visits like this, with the Institution of Civil Engineers and other key stakeholders, bring our messages to life. We’re grateful to HS2 for showing us their progress, and how different people contribute to a large-scale infrastructure project like this. It’s great to see work in action.”

Ruth Cadbury MP, Chair of the Women in Transport APPG, said:“Women only make up a fraction of the transport and construction workforce, from railway building to bus driving. But today’s trip to Curzon Street was a reminder of the invaluable role women play in delivering major infrastructure projects and the pride they feel doing so.
We need to level the playing field and give women equal opportunity to thrive in transport and adjacent fields. This, in turn, will help close the skills gap that threatens to hold the sector back.”

Shilpi Akbar, Head of Stakeholders and Communities at Balfour Beatty VINCI said: “It was great to talk to our visitors about the skills and apprenticeship programmes that BBV is leading on in order to inspire the next generation working in construction. We’re focused on providing employment opportunities for people across the Midlands region, as well as encouraging new entrants into the industry.”

As the largest infrastructure project in Europe, HS2 will feature 170 miles of brand-new high-speed line which is currently being built between Crewe and London. The vast project supports approximately 30,000 employees at present of which more than 1,000 are apprenticeships over its 350 sites.

HS2 will be zero carbon from its first day of operation whilst providing substantial improvements in connectivity to the North and Midlands, freeing up capacity on local services and freight trains. HS2 will also integrate with the current network and will serve stations in to Scotland.