Maritime UK Chief Welcomes $8.6 Bln Infrastructure Project
Posted by Eric Haun
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Maritime UK Chairman, David Dingle, has welcomed the signature of a major construction contract to deliver the tunnels, bridges and earthworks for phase 1 of the HS2 project.
The contracts cover works on both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the high-speed rail 2 (HS2) project, and are worth an estimated £6.6 billion ($8.6 billion).
David Dingle, Chairman of Maritime UK said, "The news that the contracts to build the tunnels, bridges and earthworks for the first phase of HS2 have been signed represents an important step towards becoming a fully connected Britain."
"But while Maritime UK welcomes investment in infrastructure programs such as HS2, Britain's main priority must be improving connectivity, which will come with the construction of HS3.
"Given that the United Kingdom moves 95 percent of its imports and exports by sea, it's crucial that our ports have better connectivity to the major industrial and distribution hubs around the country.
"What’s more, our success post-Brexit depends in a large part on our ability to establish ourselves as an international trading hub, which requires a level of internal connectivity on a par with our maritime power.
"HS3 will allow regional clusters of maritime services in the north of the country to be fully connected.”