Nearly a year after Minister Gladys Berejiklian announced the opening of expressions of interest to train manufacturers from Australia and overseas for the procurement of a new state-of-the-art intercity train fleet, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance announced that four consortia have been shortlisted to tender for the supply and maintenance of the new intercity train fleet for NSW.
“Last year, the NSW Government called for Expressions of Interest to deliver and maintain the next generation intercity trains and we’ve been working with interested organisations over the last few months to better understand what they have to offer,” Mr Constance said.
“We first met with prospective train manufacturers at an industry briefing in May last year where we saw a lot of enthusiasm from experienced organisations, both from Australia and overseas, to be involved in this significant project. I am pleased to announce a mix of local and international organisations will now be invited to tender.”
According to the Minister’s media release, the organisations shortlisted to tender are: Alstom Transport Australia Pty Ltd; Downer-CNRCRC Consortium, comprising Downer EDI Rail Pty Limited and CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd; Stadler Bussnang AG and UGL/MEA/CSR Consortium, comprising UGL Rail Services Pty Ltd, Mitsubishi Electric Australia Pty Ltd and CSR Corporation Ltd.
The contract – expected to be awarded in 2016 – includes the supply and maintenance of approximately 520 brand new carriages configured specifically for the rail network in NSW, as well as maintenance of the new fleet and fit out and operation of a maintenance facility.
“Each of these consortia brings significant experience working on similar scale projects, either here in Australia or elsewhere in the world. Ensuring a strong, competitive field is critical for any public tender process to deliver value for money to the NSW taxpayer,” Mr Constance said.
“The new fleet will deliver unprecedented levels of comfort, convenience and reliability for our intercity customers and consultation will be a key part of the design phase to make sure we understand what’s important to our customers. As part of their tender, we will ask the four consortia to consider different options for seating configurations, bike storage, luggage racks and the possibility of Wi Fi and a Premium carriage for customers. I am confident the scale of this project combined with the level of participation in market sounding, industry briefings and the Expression of Interest process will translate into strong tender responses from these high quality firms.”
The Minister also revealed that the new fleet is expected to come into service progressively, with the first trains delivered by 2019 and the rest of the fleet being delivered through to 2024.
