Infrastructure in pictures
A history in pictures of some of our iconic transport infrastructure projects from the 1860s to the present day.
As our clients started to build and invest in infrastructure, Ashurst focused on building up a specific industry infrastructure and projects practice from the 2000s. Interestingly we were involved with infrastructure projects from our beginnings, especially in regard to building railways.
The world of infrastructure has continued to change with large scale, secular and global forces driving change.
Looking ahead, issues such as sustainability, energy transition and rapid technological advancements will impact the industry as never before. Our infrastructure practice recently published a report that highlights both the threats and the opportunities for the infrastructure market as it transitions to meet the challenges posed by the drive to net zero, new technology and other forces of change.
Read our report Resilient Infrastructure: Rising to the challenge of a more sustainable future >
Our track record speaks for itself: we have helped numerous leading companies, governments and financial institutions manage complex projects by developing innovative solutions to meet their needs and objectives. Here are some of those projects.
 | Liverpool Street Station, London In 1862, the 1844 Joint Stock Companies Act (which had revolutionised commerce and corporate governance) was consolidated with the 1856 Joint Stock Companies Act (which limited companies’ liability) to create the Companies Act—another liberal piece of legislation that only served to feed corporate mania, especially the railways mania. Financial markets boomed and there was a spike in incorporations, flotations and business reorganisations. The firm was instrumental in the development of London’s underground railways and, later, above-ground railway and tramway systems in Edinburgh, Glasgow and elsewhere. A deft piece of advice, to enable the Great Eastern Railway to extend to a new Liverpool Street terminus, earned John Morris, partner from 1854 to 1905, a commendatory letter from Lord Salisbury, the Great Eastern’s chairman: ‘a special letter of thanks for our part in it’. [Excerpt from our forthcoming book: Ashurst: The Story of a progressive global law firm – The first 200 years] |
 | Bank Station, London William Morris, partner at Ashurst from 1883 to 1933, penned some reflections on the wide diversity of his clients and his work. He acted, for example, for the promoters of the Central London Railway: 'In 1891 I carried through the Central London Railway Act, which provided for a station in Cornhill, a very costly site. By arrangement with the Grosvenor Estate (Mr Boodle [of Boodle, Hatfield & Co., solicitors to the estate]) powers were obtained in this Act for the opening up of Davies Street and South Molton Street into Oxford Street, a very important street improvement. When the costliness of the Cornhill Station site seemed likely to prevent the construction of the Central London railway, I conceived the idea of making an underground station in front of the Royal Exchange with public subways and accesses from the streets. [This was the origin of the Bank underground station.] My friend, Mr JH Greathead, the Engineer … got out a Plan on the lines which I suggested to him. In the Central London Railway Act of 1892 I introduced a Clause providing that three months before commencing any works within the City of London the Company should submit to the Commissioners (of Sewers) a comprehensive scheme and design for a central station and booking office and for public subways connecting Princes Street, Mansion House Street, The Poultry, Queen Victoria Street, Walbrook, Mansion House Place, Lombard Street, Cornhill and Threadneedle Street. The same Clause provided that any other Railway Company having an underground station in the vicinity of the Mansion House should be entitled, subject to the written approval of the Commissioners, to have access by means of a subway from such underground station to the system of public subways. I succeeded in obtaining the approval of the Commissioners of Sewers and the Corporation to the construction of what is now known as the Bank Station … My conception of the underground Bank Station has been utilised in other places—notably at Piccadilly Circus.' [Excerpt from our forthcoming book: Ashurst: The Story of a progressive global law firm – The first 200 years] |
 | QEII Bridge over the River Thames We advised the concession company on the project to design, build, finance and operate the new Queen Elizabeth II Bridge and to take over and operate the existing Dartford Crossing tunnels, which form a pivotal link in the M25 London orbital motorway. This was the first privately financed infrastructure project in the UK in over 100 years and involved the concession company assuming full traffic and toll collection risk. |
 | Dubai Metro Advised our client on the development of the US$5bn Dubai Metro project, the first metro rail system in the GCC and the largest driverless metro system in the world. |
 | Sydney Metro, Australia Advising Sydney Metro on all aspects of the Sydney Metro City & Southwest project, including providing structuring advice, advising on the procurement of the various major contract packages, property, planning and environment advice, and on the procurement of all integrated station and overstation developments. We are also advising on various aspects of Sydney Metro West, including on project structuring, tunnelling, and property. |
 | Mersey Gateway Bridge, UK We advised the project company on its successful tender for the PPP project to develop and operate a major new tolled road crossing over the River Mersey in the UK. This privately financed project involved a complex multi-tiered financing including the first use of the UG Government's infrastructure guarantee facility. |
 | WestConnex, Sydney, Australia Advised Sydney Motorway Corporation on Stages 1, 2 and 3 of the A$16.8bn WestConnex Motorway Project, the largest road project in Asia Pacific. |
 | LA Metro US Advising LA Metro on various aspects of the LA Metro project, including the West Santa Ana Branch P3 project, a new 20-mile light rail transit line; the G-Line Bus Rapid Transit Improvements progressive DB project; and the I-105 ExpressLanes CM/GC package. |
Our current practice links right back to our early roots where we were very much an infrastructure firm involved in building railways in London, South America and elsewhere. MARK ELSEY, PARTNER, LONDON
