A shortlist of bidders vying to secure a new £275 million tender to build a train depot and network control centre in Birmingham for HS2 has been revealed.
The project will see the 74-acre former Alstom and LDV Vans site, in Washwood Heath next to the M6, turned into a key hub for the new high-speed rail network.
This new contract, which is due to be awarded in 2023, is to design and build the centre at the brownfield site.
The shortlisted bidders are Gülermak, Taylor Woodrow and Keltbray, and VolkerFitzpatrick and VolkerRail.
The depot will have facilities for train maintenance, cleaning and inspection with 14 sidings where trains can be stored overnight.
It will also have a network control centre for HS2's signalling and control systems, office buildings for cleaners and drivers, be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week and create 500 new jobs.
At least 54 trains will be based at the site to be used on phase one of the line between Birmingham and London and phase 2a between Birmingham and Crewe.
This latest shortlist has been announced just days after a trio of finalists were confirmed in the race to win the contract to build the new HS2 Interchange station in Solihull.
HS2 procurement and supply chain director Andrew Cubitt said: "Washwood Heath will be at the heart of the operation - servicing and maintaining the trains as well as controlling the operations.
"The site will also be a major boost for the local community, with around 500 long-term jobs set to be created at the site and extra land freed up for development.
"That's why it's great to see such a strong shortlist for the design and construction."
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Train maker Alston, formerly Metro Cammell, ceased production at the site in 2004.
A team from enabling works contractor LM - a joint venture between Laing O'Rourke and J. Murphy & Sons - completed the demolition of the buildings on the site last year, ready for the start of construction.
