HS2 Ltd. has confirmed that Taylor Woodrow Infrastructure Ltd. and Aureos Rail Ltd. will deliver the high-speed railway's rolling stock depot and control centre at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, in a contract worth around £856m. The joint venture will transform a disused 70-hectare brownfield site (once home to the LDV and Metro-Cammell works) into a major new logistics and business hub for the city.
The new depot will cover around 30 hectares and include a Rolling Stock Maintenance Building, carriage wash, automatic vehicle inspection building, sidings for overnight train storage, and a test track. Alongside it will sit the Network Integrated Control Centre, where staff will manage train dispatch and keep services running smoothly, while the remaining land will be released for commercial development, new green space, and wildlife habitat.
The project is expected to create around 1,000 permanent jobs once complete, plus a further 500 during construction, in an area ranks among the most deprived in the UK. Taylor Woodrow and Aureos bring a strong track record to the job, having previously delivered Kings Cross and Whitechapel stations, the Elizabeth Line depot, and Old Oak Common on HS2 itself - and together employ more than 3,000 people across the UK.