Bids invited for £5Bn railway infrastructure contracts

Network Rail, has put contractors on notice for its next generation of track infrastructure contracts.

The infrastructure company, which owns, manages and develops Britain’s railway, has issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN) via The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) process for its tender exercise to let the next generation of track works contracts, valued up to £5bn over ten years, starting 2019.

A huge investment is being made into improving the railways by Network Rail. Some £130M is being spent every single week through the Railway Upgrade Plan, including maintenance and renewal of Britain’s 20,000 miles of track. This will see an extra 170,000 seats daily, going into major cities across the country by 2019 – a 30% increase in capacity. Journeys will be quicker, trains will run more frequently and it will be more comfortable on board under the biggest programme of rail modernisation since the Victorian era.

The contracts on notice cover the development, design and delivery of plain line and switches & crossings, plus associated infrastructure works using the alliancing contract form. Three alliances will be formed between Network Rail and consortia comprising a minimum of one construction contractor and one designer. The alliances will cover the following geographic areas:

• Alliance 1: North (Scotland Route)
• Alliance 2: Central (London North West, and London North East & East Midland Routes)
• Alliance 3: South (Anglia, Southeast, Wessex, Western, and Wales Routes)

The pre-qualification period for the tender is expected to start in May, and will be preceded by a supplier engagement briefing for interested suppliers on Monday 23 April.

Steve Featherstone, Network Rail’s director for track said: “This tender represents a major milestone in the development of our strategy for our track infrastructure investment programme. It also represents a significant commitment by Network Rail to the rail industry and we are expecting high levels of interest in these contracts from the supply chain. In return, we will be looking for clear and firm commitments from the supply chain to deliver value for Network Rail.”

The published Track Works PIN contains full details on the tender and information of where suppliers can register their interest.

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