UK: London St Pancras Highspeed and the Railway Industry Association have hosted an industry event at Ebbsfleet International station to inform the supply chain about business opportunities over the next five years.
The High Speed 1 infrastructure concessionaire plans to spend £300m on renewals during its Control Period 4 from April 1 2025 to March 31 2030.
It has allocated £4m to trial innovative technologies to improve asset renewal efficiency and monitoring, including systems for remote condition surveillance.
Focus group sessions at the event on April 28 provided more than 150 attendees with insights into London St Pancras Highspeed’s R&D priorities, the role of SMEs and how new suppliers can overcome barriers to market entry.
‘To maintain the exceptional performance our passengers and partners expect, we are making significant investments in renewing our infrastructure’, said Chief Operating Officer Richard Thorp. ‘With growing demand for high speed services, our network must be ultra-reliable and high performing. This control period will see the renewal of key assets to support both existing operators and future growth.’
