A group of consultants, contractors, and architects have joined to develop the £200 million Global Centre of Rail Excellence in Wales. Walters Group together with Atkins will gear up the building site. While Arcadis is concentrated on the rail system design, Mott MacDonald has been placed on the net-zero energy strategy.
A multidisciplinary team has also been created to offer an overarching master plan for the 475ha site’s transformation. 5th Studio, Expedition Engineering, Jonathan Cook Landscape Architects, Faithful & Gould, Fairhurst, PRD, Wildwood Ecology, and Thirty 4/7 are part of the design firms involved.
The alliance will collaborate to offer a comprehensive spatial idea that will include the track testing facility as well as proposals for the future landscape of the whole site, as well as an innovative campus with visitor accommodations.
Development of the Global Centre of Rail Excellence in Wales
The rail hub will be constructed at the former Nant Helen Opencast Mine and Onllwyn Washery at the junction of the Dulais and Tawe Valleys in South Wales. The project is divided into three phases, with the first scheduled to be completed by the middle of 2025:
- Phase 1: From late 2022, sidings for warm storage of rolling stock will be provided.
- Phase 2: From 2024, the construction of two electrified test loops, one 6.9km high-speed test loop and one 4. km infrastructure test loop, as well as supporting infrastructure and buildings.
- Phase 3: In 2025 and beyond, the addition of expanded stabling, maintenance, and commissioning facilities, as well as research facilities, a hotel, and a business park.
The UK rail industry will use it for rolling stock and infrastructure testing, innovation, storage, and maintenance.
Reported earlier
Oct 2021
Global Centre for Rail Excellence; The first integrated rail testing facility in the world to be built
The significant scheme will see the regeneration of the 500-hectare Nant Helen opencast space on the Brecon Beacons’ southern edge. Advanced initial work will need 3 million m³ of earth to be shifted before the permanent rail infrastructure work can commence. The successful contractor will also offer temporary drainage during the building phase as well as permanent drainage for the completed facility.
Read also: SEGRO V-Park Grand Union plans underway.
The Global Centre.
The Global Centre for Rail Excellence will consist of two looped test tracks, one being a low-speed infrastructure test track (4.5km)and another being an electrified high-speed rolling stock track (6.9km long). Furthermore, there will be a dual platform test environment, staff accommodation, operations and control offices, education and training, shunter cabins and facilities for research and development. After planning for the scheme this summer, the earthworks package will start on site in spring 2022.
The facility will also showcase Neath Port Talbot on a national and global scale and has the great potential to help wider investment and accelerate the area’s economic regeneration. Global Centre for Rail Excellence will also promote the creation of high-quality jobs in the area and also help to develop and test more environmentally friendly rail technologies helping to achieve the ambition of cleaner, stronger communities. Additionally, it will also support the post-Covid recovery – the UK Government has emphasised the need for infrastructure spending, kick-starting the economy and ensuring long-term economic recovery.
