The winner of the £300m contract will be responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning and initial maintenance of the operational telecommunication systems.

The scope of the work includes 2,760 km of fibre optic cabling, 140 trackside cabinets, dozens of equipment cabins and radio coverage across 230km.

The winning bidder will also deliver a separate contract for the provision of technical support services.

The start of the formal procurement process for this third set of ‘rail systems’ contracts follows on from the recent launch of the contests for track systems and command and control systems.

HS2’s procurement and commercial director, David Poole said: “HS2’s operational telecoms systems will be the railway’s communications backbone – linking up the men and women who will run the railway and stretching across 230km of bridges, tunnels, stations, depots and other facilities.”

The Operational Telecommunications Contractor will be expected to take a leading role in the managing of interfaces between the telecommunications and other contracts.

Further information is available from the link.