PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
High Speed 2 Line (14 November 2016)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much steel is expected to be used in the High Speed 2 project; how much of that steel is expected to be British steel; what the value of that steel is expected to be; and how much of that steel has been ordered.

Asked by:
Tim Farron (Liberal Democrat)

HS2 Ltd has calculated that Phase One of HS2 will require some 1.3 million tonnes (mt) of steel, principally delivered over the period 2020-2025. Phase Two is calculated to require a further 0.73 mt, mainly during the second half of the 2020s. This makes a total of 2.03 mt, over approximately 10 years.

Included in the total are estimates of building components in stations, civil engineering structures such as bridges, viaducts, tunnels and walls, and also steel in rolling stock and railway track (rail, sleepers and slab track).

It is too early for HS2 Ltd to be able to provide an indicative figure for the value of steel required.

HS2 Ltd will not buy any steel directly. As with the rest of our construction materials, this will be procured by the supply chain. HS2 won’t need steel at bulk until after construction begins in 2017. HS2 provides an excellent opportunity for British businesses with 25,000 jobs created during construction and 3,000 when up and running.

HS2 Ltd has hosted a number of events across the UK to make sure British firms are well-placed to compete for opportunities offered by HS2.

Answered by:
Andrew Jones (Conservative)
21 November 2016