Siemens is not entitled to compensation after its defeat in the struggle for a high-speed train project in Great Britain. The London High Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Siemens’ train division against the operating company HS2, which awarded the two billion pound contract to build 54 trains for the high-speed line from London to Birmingham to Siemens’ competitors Bombardier (now Alstom) and Hitachi had forgiven. Part of the order is also a twelve-year maintenance contract.
Judge Finola O’Farrell ruled in the written procedure on Monday that Siemens was unable to prove that the contract was awarded illegally. Siemens had expressed doubts that Bombardier and Hitachi could meet the technical requirements for the project. They did not adhere to the tender conditions and were only able to submit the cheapest offer because of this. A spokesman for Siemens Mobility expressed disappointment with the decision.
An HS2 spokesman stressed that there had been no successful challenge to the awarding of contracts worth more than £20 billion for the project. Alstom initially declined to comment, and Hitachi could not be reached for comment. The 54 trains will travel at speeds of up to 225 miles (360 kilometers) per hour from London to Birmingham, the country’s second-largest city. Hitachi and Alstom want to build them in three plants in Great Britain.
The high-speed line was actually supposed to be completed by 2026 and continue to the north of England to Leeds and Manchester. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak canceled the second part of the route beyond Birmingham in October.