Tenderers announced for major NWRL contracts

Staff WriterFebruary 20, 2013, 12:00 amFebruary 20, 2013

The NSW Government has announced the shortlists of consortia bidding for the North West Rail Linkâs two major contracts including for the construction of what it says are the longest rail tunnels ever built in Australia . NSW minister for transport Gladys Berejiklian&nbspmade the announcement following the close of tenders to build the billion-dollar North West Rail Link tunnels, and the expressions of interest that have also closed for the separate contract to operate the rail link.&nbspThree tenders were received to build the NWRL’s 15km twin tunnels between Bella Vista and Epping.&nbspThe Tunnel and Station Civils (TSC) contract (fully funded by the NSW Government) to build the twin 15km tunnels and underground station excavation will be to be assessed over coming months and is expected to be awarded middle of this year.The tenderers are<ul><li>Baulderstone Bouygues Travaux Publics Joint Venture</li><li>Rapidlink Joint Venture – Obayashi, McConnell Dowell, Laing O’Rourke Australia</li><li>Thiess John Holland Dragados Joint Venture.</li></ul>Three consortia made up of a combined 17 organisations from Australia and overseas have lodged expressions of interest for the NWRL’s Operations, Trains and Systems (OTS) contract which includes supplying Sydney’s new-generation single deck trains and converting the Epping to Chatswood Rail Line to rapid transit operation.They are:<ul><li>Northwest Rapid Transit – MTR Corporation (Australia), John Holland, Leighton Contractors, UGL Rail Services, Plenary Group</li><li>TransForm – Serco Australia, Bombardier Transportation Australia, SNC-Lavalin Capital, McConnell Dowell Constructors (Aust), John Laing Investments, Macquarie Capital Group</li><li>The Pulse Consortium – Keolis Australia, Downer EDI, Obrascon Huarte Lain, Ansaldo STS Australia, Mitsubishi Corporation, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.</li></ul>This Public Private Partnership contract is expected to be awarded in 2014.Three groups have lodged expressions of interest for the Surface and Viaduct Civil (SVC) contract to build the 4km skytrain and associated civil works including embankments and cuttings for the railway. Tenders are to be called in coming months for this package which will also be fully funded by the NSW Government.