Network Rail CP6 Contracts for Central England Announced
Network Rail has announced its preferred bidders for final track work contracts worth 1.5 billion GBP. The track works in question relate to central England. The selected contractors will perform them over the next ten years. In particular, they deal with the tracks and points, the associated overhead line equipment and also signalling equipment.
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Network Rail CP6 Contracts for Central England
The ORR confirmed a total budget of 35 billion GBP for rail maintenance and renewal works for Control Period 6 (which begins in April 2019). This 1.5 billion GBP pot is one of Network Rail’s most substantial from that overall budget.
Network Rail has now confirmed Balfour Beatty, TSO and SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business have won its contracts for London North West, London North East and East Midlands routes. Earlier this year Network Rail announced Babcock Rail, Arup and Arcadis as its preferred bidders for Scotland and Colas Rail and AECOM for the South of England. This current announcement rounds off the works for the UK.
Read: Preferred Bidders for Network Rail Contracts Announced
The contract terms naturally need finalising; however, the contract runtime is ten years. This breaks down into an initial five-year period and an option to extend.
Steve Featherstone, Network Rail’s Programme Director Track, said:
“I look forward to working closely with Balfour Beatty, TSO and Atkins to establish our new alliance to deliver great value for the taxpayer and great service for our passengers and freight customers. Reaching this important milestone ensures we will have a stable foundation for the delivery of the core railway infrastructure across Great Britain for the next decade.”
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty Group Chief Executive, said:
“As one of the UK’s leading rail infrastructure suppliers, Balfour Beatty is proud to be part of the alliance appointed to ensure reliability of the UK’s rail network. Our expertise will be focused on driving innovative solutions that deliver sustainable, safer rail infrastructure.
“We believe that industry collaboration is the way to drive higher efficiency and service standards. Network Rail’s new alliance model is a great step forward in rail contract procurement.”
Jean Bernadet, CEO of TSO and Deputy General Manager of NGE, said:
“I am absolutely delighted TSO expertise is being recognised through this award. This project is a very important milestone for TSO and a great opportunity to demonstrate our expertise on track renewals and strong ability to innovate, providing a fresh look from several countries where TSO is operating.
“TSO is fully committed to delivering major improvements to Britain’s railways, together with Atkins, Balfour Beatty and Network Rail.”
Philip Hoare, CEO of Atkins UK & Europe, said:
“This is a significant and exciting appointment for Atkins as part of an alliance helping to deliver the biggest upgrade to Britain’s railways in 150 years.
“As an industry we’re embracing new collaborative ways of working and the application of technology to meet the needs of passenger and freight services alike.”
Network Rail has organised Britain (it is not responsible for Northern Ireland) into four regions for its infrastructure projects: Scotland North East, Central England, Southern England, Western England and Wales.