Infrastructure and Energy Autumn 2025 - report part one

Above: Colne Valley Viaduct on Hertfordshire Buckinghamshire borders carrying HS2 (courtesy Grimshaw for ALIGN JV consortium)

Future Cities Forum held its 'Infrastructure and Energy Autumn 2025' discussion event to explore how the UK government can improve efficiency in the delivery of sustainable infrastructure projects with new measures on keeping costs under control.

Critics have argued that the UK has fallen behind its international peers for some time around infrastructure quality and productivity and why there has been a need for a more coherent approach. The Government has been looking at infrastructure projects to support growth and jobs while headlining its 'Plan for Change' along with the upcoming UK Infrastructure and Planning Bill.

Part 1 of this report includes insight from the National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), HS2 Limited, Grimshaw and the international design and engineering firm, Rendel on these current issues. Our further reports from our recorded debate will showcase knowledge and expertise from LDA Design, Transport for London, Coventry City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council / West Midlands Combined Authority, and Price & Myers.

On the day of our discussion, new images were released of the Colne Valley Viaduct to mark the completion of civil engineering works on HS2’s Colne Valley viaduct – the UK’s newest and longest rail bridge. The 2.1-mile-long structure carries Britain’s new high-speed railway across a series of roads, lakes, the River Colne and the Grand Union Canal, north west of London. Trains will operate at 200mph on the viaduct’s gentle curve which is formed of 1,000 uniquely-shaped deck segments.

The bridge is considered to have been a successful project both in design terms and completion. However, with other infrastructure projects moving forward the Treasury has endorsed recommendations for longer feasibility stages before mega projects are confirmed publicly.

Future Cities Forum's discussion began with NISTA's over view of where the new organisation can make improvements to the management of such projects, as well as encouraging collaboration with private sector investors.

Margaret Read, Director of Strategy and Policy said:

'NISTA is still in its early stages of development and we have a focus on how we make sure that the system we are operating works better for everyone and how we set ourselves up for the sector as a whole, and how we can support investors.

'There are five priorities around how we can make the system work better. Firstly, we are looking at our role in the development of the control system, in one aspect around approvals, creating a single set of approvals and working more closely with the government's commercial function and digital service with a single set of approvals rather than having to work sequentially.

'As part of the Ten Year Infrastructure Strategy, we have a focus on specific private sector financed projects such as Euston and the Lower Thames Crossing. While I cannot go into the details these are about how we make sure we create the right environment for private finance to support these projects..

'Going further into those projects which are entirely financed by the private sector - including the regulated utilities sectors -, we are committed as part of the Strategy to bring all the different reviews together to set out a new vision for how economic regulation works under this government. We are talking about big investments in energy and water and moving away from what was a 'steady state programme' approach in those sectors previously.

Spatial planning is another priority area because sector planning at the moment does not interact with it properly. Take hydrogen for example where you need water and energy in the right place, similarly for data centres you need the right energy available and for housing you need the infrastructure provision in place.

'We have the help of our recently launched infrastructure pipeline this year, and we are now taking feedback from the sector and will publish an update next January including the social value road map. The infrastructure road map is important because if you announce cost and schedule too early before the design, it will cause issues with the public and investors. Our new ten year strategy has introduced the concept of longer time leads, with longer time spent on feasibility.'

Above: Colne Valley Viaduct carrying HS2 (courtesy Grimshaw)

HS2's lead architect Diane Metcalfe, who joined Future Cities Forum's discussion, felt that attention to feasibility hasn't always been the main issue, but there should have been more focus on the geographical aspects of major infrastructure.

HS2 has commented on the success of the Colne Valley Viaduct but is also looking to the future to build in new works to the rest of the HS2 line. It says:

'Although it marks a significant achievement on this section of the railway, far more work is needed to bring civil engineering to the same level of completion elsewhere on the 140-mile route between London and the West Midlands. Mark Wild, HS2 Ltd’s chief executive, is now leading a comprehensive reset of the programme to deliver the railway in the most efficient way possible and for the lowest reasonable cost.'

Diane stated:

'I think in the past, issues around how the geographical sense of structures might operate was missed out. It is not always about feasibility, although recently looking at feasibility at Euston Station has been important, it is the ability on the larger infrastructure projects that require analysis of problems early before they become enormous issues. Geotechnical work is very important and often the early stages of a project this element does not go through the necessary examination.

'When we are talking about community and benefits, it is obvious that stations sit within a community but perhaps the potential for growth from this is not always publicised enough and it is often all about money and disruption. With the big infrastructure projects around train lines, the benefits are not sold to the community and it is not always obvious what the public can see in terms of these from simply looking at them.

Rendel the privately owned multidisciplinary international design and engineering firm, is providing customer focused solutions to international contractors and clients on major engineering and construction projects worldwide.

Rendel’s skills are based on providing engineering and technical solutions throughout the entire life cycle of a project based on understanding every facet of capital programme and project investment, financing, development, planning, detailed design, independent design checking, design and interface management, execution, engineering, value engineering, technical advisory services and construction supervision services.

Managing Director of Rendel, Vardman 'Vardy' Jones is overseeing the company’s operations in global infrastructure markets, bridges, tunnels, highways, ports and maritime facilities, rail and energy projects and responded to Future Cities Forum's question about why HS2 hasn't celebrated success stories like completing the Colne Viaduct on time :

'There is a reticence about publicising the successes of the HS2 project because so much of the narrative around it has been negative. There have been two contributory factors which we need to acknowledge about the negative aspects of HS2. Diane mentioned the Hybrid Bill handing on the consent process to the contractor consortia which was always going to create rusk and potential delay to programme. The second element was the rush to get into contract. The concept of HS2 was well thought through in terms of early contractor involvement in order to get programme and cost certainty. However, for political reasons - during Covid-19 - contracts were signed when consortia had not done all the preparatory work... Our consortium was probably the only one who had done this and the Colne Valley project has just finished on time. .There is a danger in politicians trying to get things moving too quickly.

Vardy was asked about danger of losing skills developed across major projects:

'You need a continuous pipe-line of work in order to keep skills going in the UK. This is happening on nuclear as Sizewell C continues the work done on Hinckley Point. We have had to go overseas to maintain the pipe-line in high speed rail.

I have had to take Rendel to Baltic states to maintain projects in this sector.'

Chris Patience, Principal at Grimshaw, responded on the question of community involvement for the HS2 project:

'Colne Valley is exemplary in terms of the community engagement process we undertook. Communities were engaged early. It is important to include all the key stakeholders, including local authorities and local community at an early stage. It is about explaining really complex technical infrastructure issues to lay people so they can understand the process and then contribute. It has meant we could deliver on time.

'We have achieved a structure of international significance and it would not have been possible without successful community engagement . The discussions have not just been about a piece of infrastructure for the railway but infrastructure that can bring community benefits through recreational benefits in the Colne Valley Regional Park. These are all stories which are publicised.

'Local communities are now starting to see benefits. They were all opposed to the project - for good reasons - at the start. Now they see it is happening they can see how benefits can be maximised through good design, and access across new public parks.'

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