Leading multi-disciplinary professional services consulting firm WSP, in partnership with Mott MacDonald (MWJV), has been appointed as Principal Designer for the East West Rail project.
Plans for East West Rail (EWR)—which will connect Oxford, Milton Keynes, Bedford, and Cambridge—are progressing after the Government committed to delivering the railway in full in the Autumn Budget.
MWJV’s appointment as Principal Designer (PD) underlines EWR Co’s commitment to safety, collaboration, and excellence in project delivery and will help drive forward the next scheme development phase of the programme to build a new railway between Oxford and Cambridge.
In a keynote speech last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined her support to EWR to allow a new station at Tempsford to be fast-tracked as part of plans to boost growth along the Oxford-Cambridge corridor.
As PD, MWJV will lead key responsibilities under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM). These include planning, managing and monitoring pre-construction activities to ensure the highest safety and efficiency standards during design and survey phases.
Matthew Bailey, Project Director, MWJV, said: “Safety and collaboration are at the heart of this project, and MWJV’s role as Principal Designer will ensure we deliver infrastructure that not only meets the highest standards but also anticipates and mitigates future risks. This appointment allows us to apply a proactive approach to design, ensuring greater scrutiny and adaptability while prioritising long-term safety and efficiency to deliver lasting value for East West Rail and the communities it will serve.”
MWJV will provide the technical and management resources to support EWR Co as it prepares to apply for a development consent order (DCO). This includes preliminary engineering and systems design, environmental assessment and management of the statutory processes. A successful DCO would then authorise EWR Co to build the new infrastructure required to deliver EWR.
Key benefits of this approach for EWR include:
- Clearer accountability: With MWJV managing and monitoring the design process, EWR can more effectively oversee what is being delivered and where.
- Improved safety and design integrity: MWJV’s role reduces the risk of creating infrastructure that is unsafe or unfit for purpose, ensuring projects are safe to maintain and use, and lowering long-term costs associated with correcting errors.
- Enhanced scrutiny and adaptability: The appointment allows EWR to scrutinise sticking points more easily, incorporate feedback from stakeholders, and mitigate environmental impacts more readily.
- Better risk assessment: EWR Co can perform more effective risk assessments throughout the design process, ensuring proactive identification and resolution of potential issues.
Image credit: istockphoto.com / CHUNYIP WONG
